A man thought to be the most tattooed in the world has detailed his life as a happy school teacher.
Sylvain H laine, 37, is covered in £57,000 worth of body art, and has even gone as far as having his nipple and belly button removed to make room for more tats.
The primary school teacher, model, performer from Paris even has his gums and his eyeballs tattooed, having started his tattoo journey 10 years ago at the age of 27.
Moving to London in 2012 to teach at Dulwich College, Sylvain was wearing suits and ties and suffered a personal crisis, not knowing what to do with his life.
Whilst in Brixton, he noticed that his banker at HSBC had his neck tattooed, and then noticed a man in McDonalds had both his sleeves done. This opened Sylvain's eyes, making him want to start a tattoo journey.
Over the course of three and a half years, Sylvain covered his entire body, finishing his first layer in Paris. He is now finishing up his second layer of tattoos, intending to do a third and fourth. Sylvain accepts that one day, when he is 80 or 90, he will be fully black, having covered himself in darker tones. He sees tattoos as infinite because of this.
As well as his tattoos, Sylvain has had his nipples removed and his belly button removed to make himself a smoother canvas for tattoo artists.
Sylvain considers his body to all to be one tattoo, forming a large body suit over his skin that evolves over time.
In total, Sylvain estimates he has spent £56k on all of his tattoos and modifications.
Sylvain has never found that his tattoos have affected his career. Sylvain has taught children for 14 years, currently teaching 29 kids between the age of seven and 11. Despite his impressive look, the children are unphased, caring more that he is a young male teacher in France, than his tattoos.
Sylvain finds that it takes the children two minutes to accept him, the parents two days, and the grandparents two weeks.
His father and sister were very accepting of his decision. His mother was hesitant at first, however, after seeing it as a career, became accepting of it.
Sylvain doesn't experience hatred on the streets or on his social media. For him, the strangest part is through online dating, women assuming that due to his tattoos he is dangerous and criminal, thinking he is crazy so they actively try to seduce him. He receives many sexualised comments on his pictures such as "I'd like to touch it so much, it's beautiful", "You're super hot" and "I need you".
Sylvain advises that if you want to get tattooed, wait a bit and know it is the proper choice for you, without it interfering with your job or professional life. He has never regretted a tattoo.
"I have one tattoo, my pyjamas. I have fully covered myself," said Sylvain.
"I see my arts as only one piece, one full body suit that has evolved with time. I am on my second layer now.
"My eye tattoos, for [me] this is just like another way of being tattooed.
"My tongue is tattooed, nipples removed, and belly button removed, because I wanted to be smother, to be easier to be tattooed.
"I had the nipples and belly button tattoos before and 15 beauty spots removed. It was an idea to be a more pleasing canvas.
"The more you are tattooed, the more difficult it is. I have one tattoo artist in Paris, Romain Pareja at Hand in Gloves. I know what I will eat before, and which train I will take to avoid stress."
He added: "I will end up fully black maybe when I'm 80 or 90, as it's easier to be tattooed in darker tones. My left ear is like the final step.
"Tattoos are infinite, being covered layer after layer is infinite and full of hope."
Sylvain mentions how he started his tattoo journey, adding: "In 2012, I went to London to teach in Dulwich College for two years," he said.
"I was a teacher there, wearing a suit and tie.
"When I first came to London, I was looking for something. I had a crisis thinking I didn't do anything with my life.
"I was in Brixton and the banker at the HSBC had his neck tattoo and the guy in Mcdonalds had both sleeves done and it was an eye opener for me.
"I did my first layer in three and a half years, I completed it in Paris."
Sylvain talks about his career as a school teacher.
"I am a school teacher. I currently have 29 kids in my class. I teach between seven and 11 years old," said Sylvain.
"The kids don't care about the tattoos.
"They don't have questions, the main change for them is that I am male as this is typically an older female job. My colleagues are
in their 40s and 50s with several children.
"After two mins the kids accept me. It takes two days for the parents and two weeks for the grandparents.
"I have two lives that complement each other perfectly. On Monday morning at 8am, I have to be in front of my pupils and be down to earth.
"I'm an artist, I perform at tattoo conventions, people take pictures with me and give me things to sign."
