Jeremy 'Remy' Schofield, also known as Ephemeral Remy, from Canada, recently earned an official Guinness World Records title after covering over 90% of his body with tattoos. The story began with his first-ever tattoo, which was his son's name on his left forearm in 2005. Soon after, his entire body was covered in ink. But rather than stopping there, the 38-year-old from Alberta continued adding layer upon layer over the years, accumulating roughly 40 layers of ink on his skin, with some regions of his body even filled in more than 100 times.
He won the title for most layers of tattoos in the world. "Remy, who is featured inside Guinness World Records 2027, was already a fan of body modification, with over 100 piercings, but says he didn't originally plan to have his whole body covered in tattoos," the official account of Guinness World Records noted.
He recently spoke to People Magazine about his passion. "I always had crazy hairstyles, and I dressed sort of like gothic, very alternative," he told the media outlet. "But I never actually expected to be that tattooed."
"I would get a tattoo every now and then. After I bought my house and I had my finances set up to a place where I could afford it, I was like, 'You know what? I want to start making up for lost time,'" he added.
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He currently manages tattoo shops and social media companies. Formerly, he was a cook. For Remy, the recognition feels like a lifelong achievement, comparing the milestone to earning a university degree after years of dedication and patience.
"I enjoyed seeing the progress and changing things and being able to tweak things," he told the media outlet, adding that it "became its own sort of addiction or hobby."
Unlike many who aim for a one-time cover-up, he views his body as an ever-evolving canvas, often noting that he can change the look or colour of his tattoos faster than growing out his hair.
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"I have some really silly, goofy one-offs on my legs," he said. "I always use my legs for inside jokes and funny things and things that wouldn't fit in with the rest of my upper body."
But some are different, more like a memory. "I've got a memorial portrait of my dog on my right thigh, and then I've got some memorial tattoos on my head as well," he said, further adding that he also has a memorial tattoo for his mother and father. According to the report, he also got a tattoo for his son's mother, who lost her life in 2016.
Despite having nearly his entire body covered, he has opted to leave his face mostly untouched, explaining that he wants to be able to easily recognise himself in the mirror. Otherwise, he would have been a candidate to beat New Zealand's Lucky Diamond Rich, who holds the title of most tattooed living man.
"Because I was already convinced that I wasn't going to have the record...it was just like, 'Whatever, I'm just going to keep doing my thing,'" he said. "I wasn't necessarily doing it for the record."
Even after securing the world record, Remy shows no signs of slowing down and continues going through regular weekly tattoo sessions.
"I honestly never expected or planned to have a world record for this, but my passion for the work itself had me come to this quite naturally, it was around 2019-2020 when people started asking me if I had a world record for hours and layers tattooed, by around 2022 I knew that I did, just based on a lack of documentation from any other living person that rivalled or surpassed my own," he said as quoted by the Guinness World Records.
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