A 106 Year Old Tattoo Artist is the Oldest Vogue Cover Model
Photo: Artu Nepomuceno via Vogue
Apo Whang-Od, also known as Maria Oggay, is the oldest model ever to pose for the cover of Vogue. Gracing the cover of Vogue Philippines' April edition, the 106 year old is an indigenous Filipino mambabatok artist.
Mambabatok is a traditional form of tattoo, in which images are hand poked into the skin using the thorn of a pomelo tree, bamboo, water, and coal soot. Whang-Od has been a practitioner of this art form for the last 90 years. She has become something of an icon over the last decade, thousands of tourists making the arduous trek to her remote village of Buscalan to be tattooed.
Now, her grand-niece is following in her footsteps, bringing this art form to an international level. Still, Whang-Apo plans to keep doing tattoos until she cannot see properly anymore.
Photo: Artu Nepomuceno via Vogue
Photographed by Artu Nepomuceno, Whang-Od poses against a simple brown background, head just in front of the Vogue logo. She is bare faced except for a deep red lip, neck draped in beads, showing off her heavily tattooed arms and chest.
When deciding whether Whang-Od should go on the Vogue cover, the publication staff decided unanimously that she should. The feeling persisted that the artist was an excellent representation of the beauty of Filipino culture.
Whang-Od also represents a desire for the concept of beauty to change. She is the oldest woman on the cover of Vogue by more than twenty years (the previous record being held by Dame Judy Dench, who was on the cover of Vogue in May of 2020 at 85 years old).
Photo: Artu Nepomuceno via Vogue
She also provides representation for indigenous peoples, posing for her photograph in a black tank top, showing off her arms, chest, and hands, all covered in traditional tattoos. This tattooed look, geometric patterns against her skin, now papery with age, is not one of the mainstream ideals of beauty. Yet it is beautiful- irrevocably so. Tattoos are important accessories-even rites- among many cultures, and having them represented on the cover of Vogue is no small thing.
Bea Valdes, the Vogue Philippines editor-in-chief, told CNN that with this cover story, Vogue hoped to speak to the beauty of humanity. And that is exactly what Whang-Apo does.