Somewhere in South Africa, a famous athlete sports a little sperm cell on her nether regions.His celeb client list includes hip-hop musician Greg XV, TV and radio personality Fallon Kotze and Parlotones bass player Glen Hodgson.
Another Johannesburg tattoo artist, Ethel Laka, said she also got requests for artwork on private areas."I am happy to do it, at a risk of course, after discussions between me and the client. I have done flowers on women [and] humorous exclamations like the word 'bang' on a male pubic area."
Laka believes that while South Africa is more conservative than some other countries, locals are increasingly embracing tattoos.
Williams said some of his work required clients to dig deep into their pockets.
"I regularly do large-scale tattoos that would amount to tens of thousands of rands. Certain clients have coverage on their bodies that is approaching bodysuits ... they would have spent near on R90,000 by the time those are completed."
In Rumble & Hum, which has already aired in Europe and the US, some well-known local personalities make an appearance in his studio.
"TV stars, musos and socialites all come to us, as well as sporting stars, but then so does the father who's lost a son, or a brother who's proudly professing his sexual orientation," said Williams.
And the most bizarre tattoo he's ever done?
"It was on a dear friend who was a private security contractor going across to Afghanistan. He wanted photorealistic bacon and eggs with [the words] 'wakey, wakey eggs and bakey'."
Williams said the local perception that tattoos were the mark of prison inmates was changing.
"I think from the myriads of people we see coming through the door, we can deduce the stigma of tattoos is changing. Will everyone eventually love tattoos? Meh, probably not, but that's OK, too."There are hundreds of shops across South Africa. More come and go on a daily basis than I can keep score of. CEOs of huge corporates now have ink, judges, police officers, billionaires, soccer moms and neurosurgeons, all have tattoos; tattoos in South Africa are everywhere and will continue to show up more and more," he said.
Laka said reality shows like Miami Ink had cast the tattoo in a new light. "You had families getting tattooed to commemorate their loved ones," she said. People got tattoos to celebrate achievements or milestones in their lives.
"It was not the jail symbols affiliated with gangs ... anymore."
Idols judge Somizi Mhlongo has more than 20 tattoos and they all mean something.
"But the two that mean more are the one on my chest, which is dedicated to the late Lebo Mathosa, and the one on my left arm, which has my entire family tree on it," he said...