Move over, #selfie masters! The real selfie master is here!
The oldest and the last original “mambabatok” or hand-tap tattoo artist, Apo Whang-Od from Kalinga, just took the coolest selfie ever!
The photo is from Barry “Yob” Red, a traveler who gave up his banking career to pursue his passion of stepping in as many destinations as possible.
The photo was posted on Facebook with caption:
Buscalan, Tinglayan, Kalinga
Kalinga which means “headhunter”, is the home of the tribal warriors. The tattoos of men symbolizes bravery and courage while women is for beauty and elegance.
Apo Whang-Od, 97 yrs.old, the last “mambabatok” of her generation.
GoPro owned by Kar Joseph.
When we asked him the story behind Whang-Od’s selfie, Yob told WhenInManila.com:
I am a member of Go Pro Users Philippines. Young lady members would usually post their sexy beach pictures wearing 2 piece/swimsuit and they would get almost 2KÂ Likes in a day. So, that gave me an idea to post a picture of someone that is that the opposite of the usual, IÂ mean conservative, old, yet iconic. When I posted the photo on the group, the picture as far as IÂ can remember, got almost 4KÂ Likes.
He elaborated that it wasn’t his goal to get many Likes on Facebook, and he did it just for fun. He just wanted to see how people would respond to the said photo. Additionally, he wanted show that something conservative yet unique can still get the attention of many.
Apo Whang-Od, who is already 97 years old, has been part of history for being the last traditional tattoo artist from Kalinga. She uses thorn from pomelo tree and bamboo to create ancient art on a person’s body.
In their tribe and during the early days, men would get tattoo as symbol of their achievements. On the other hand, girls would receive tattoos as a symbol of beauty and as they enter womanhood.
At present, a lot of people, especially online, have shown support for Apo Whang-Od to be declared as Pambansang Alagad ng Sining for her huge part in preserving the dying art of traditional and cultural tattoo.
Apo Whang-Od has a cool selfie game, right?
