In the late 1880s, a new phenomenon emerged that aroused the admiration and sympathy of Victorian society for people who had genetic abnormalities. Photographer Charles Eisenmann saw a great opportunity in this hobby and began photographing Freak Show people dressed as if they were from Victorian society. Eisenmann continued to work on his archive throughout the 1870s and 80s.
"Gnome Fatty" Sophia Schultz was a regular at the studio. During the 1880s, she began to grow facial hair, which was made even thicker through retouching.
Born with a beautiful face and giant legs, Fanny Mills had a dowry of $5,000 in cash and a “prosperous farm” in Ohio from her father, but could not find a man willing to marry her.
The four-legged Myrtle Corbin gave birth to 2 and 3 children, respectively, using two separate functional reproductive organs.
In the 19th century, physical deformity was often not only a curse, but a way to become rich and famous. Many of the Freak Show participants received good salary and lived happy life in the family circle.
The "Russian Dog Boy", who participated in many productions of the "Beauty and the Beast" theme, was one of the most successful and popular participants in such shows and his portraits sold like hot cakes.
Charles Eisenmann paid great attention to backgrounds, lighting, props and costumes to create evocative, atmospheric portraits. Today, about seven hundred similar works by the photographer have been preserved in private and museum collections. Among other works, there is also a portrait of the famous Barnum.
There are a huge number of different diseases in the world. But sometimes it’s an ordinary runny nose that goes away in a couple of days, sometimes it’s an illness that requires surgery. In our review, 10 diseases that not only slowly kill, but also terribly disfigure a person.
1. Necrosis of the jaw
Fortunately, this disease disappeared a long time ago. In the 1800s, workers in match factories were exposed to enormous amounts of white phosphorus- a toxic substance that ultimately led to terrible pain in the jaws. Eventually the entire jaw cavity would fill with pus and simply rot. At the same time, the jaw spread a miasma of decay and even glowed in the dark from an excess of phosphorus. If it was not removed surgically, the phosphorus would spread further to all organs of the body, leading to death.
2. Proteus syndrome
Proteus syndrome is one of the rarest diseases in the world. There are only about 200 cases reported worldwide. This is a congenital disorder that causes excessive growth various parts bodies. Asymmetrical growth of bones and skin often affects the skull and limbs, especially the legs. There is a theory that Joseph Merrick, the so-called "Elephant Man", suffers from Proteus syndrome, although DNA tests have not proven this.
3. Acromegaly
Acromegaly occurs when the pituitary gland produces excess growth hormone. As a rule, the pituitary gland is previously affected by a benign tumor. The development of the disease leads to the fact that victims begin to grow to completely disproportionate sizes. In addition to their enormous size, victims of acromegaly also have a prominent forehead and very sparsely set teeth. Probably the most famous person, suffering from acromegaly, was Andre the Giant, who grew to 220 centimeters and weighed more than 225 kg. If this disease is not treated in time, the body will grow to such a size that the heart cannot cope with the load, and the patient dies. Andre died of heart disease at the age of forty-six.
4. Leprosy
Leprosy is one of the most terrible diseases that is caused by bacteria that destroy the skin. It manifests itself slowly: first, ulcers appear on the skin, which gradually expand until the patient begins to rot. The disease usually most severely affects the face, arms, legs and genitals. Although victims of leprosy do not lose entire limbs, victims often have their fingers, toes, and nose rot and fall off, leaving a nightmarish ragged hole in the middle of their face. Lepers have been cast out of society for centuries, and even today there are "leper colonies."
5. Smallpox
Another ancient disease is smallpox. It is even found on Egyptian mummies. It is believed that she was defeated in 1979. Two weeks after contracting the disease, the body becomes covered in a painful, bloody rash and pimples. After a few days, if the person survives, the pimples dry out, leaving behind terrible scars. George Washington and Abraham Lincoln suffered from smallpox, as well as Joseph Stalin, who was especially embarrassed by smallpox on his face and ordered his photographs to be retouched.
6. Epidermodysplasia verruciformis
A very rare skin disease, epidermodysplasia verruciformis, is characterized by a person’s susceptibility to the papilloma virus, which causes rapid growth of scattered warts throughout the body. The world first heard about the terrible disease in 2007, when Dede Kosvar was diagnosed with the disease. Since then, the patient has undergone several operations, during which several kilograms of warts and papillomas were removed from him. Unfortunately, the disease progresses very quickly and Dede will require at least two surgeries a year to maintain a relatively normal appearance.
7. Porphyria
Porphyria disease is an inherited genetic disorder that results in the accumulation of porphyrins ( organic compounds, which have various functions in the body, including producing red blood cells). Porphyria primarily attacks the liver and can lead to all sorts of mental health problems. Sufferers of this skin condition should avoid exposure to sunlight, which causes swelling and blisters on the skin. It is believed that the appearance of people with porphyria gave rise to legends about vampires and werewolves.
8. Cutaneous leishmaniasis
9. Elephant disease
10. Necrotizing fasciitis
Minor cuts and abrasions are a part of everyone's life, and they usually cause minimal inconvenience. But if flesh-eating bacteria gets into the wound, even a small cut can become life-threatening in a matter of hours. The bacteria actually "eat" the flesh and release toxins that destroy the soft tissue. The only way to treat the infection is with massive amounts of antibiotics, but even then, all of the affected flesh must be cut out to stop the fasciitis from spreading. Surgeries also often involve amputation of limbs and other obvious mutilations. But even with medical attention, necrotizing fasciitis is fatal in 30-40% of all cases.
While scientists are looking for cures for terrible diseases, ordinary people can only get their fill.
Unfortunately, not all people on the planet have an attractive appearance. Some suffer from incurable diseases, some have been victims of accidents or other incidents. But there are also those who deliberately disfigure themselves, guided by the desire to be different from everyone else. They pay huge amounts of money to mutilate their body and become the happiest. In our review 7 unusual people, who were included in the ranking of the most ugly people planets.
Zombie fight
Rick Genest or zombie fight
Rick Genest gained popularity and the title of one of the most scary people planet thanks to his extraordinary appearance, or more precisely, the tattoos that cover his face. First of all, the attention is drawn to the fake teeth like a skeleton (in their proper place), dark circles under the eyes and a black nose with a ring, which makes the guy look even more menacing. Rick probably often hears the frightened screams of passers-by.
Woman piercing
Elaine Davidson - female piercer
The well-deserved leadership in this category belongs to the Brazilian Elaine Davidson. She is the woman with the largest number of piercings: on her body there are more than 9 thousand punctures, the total weight of which is more than three kilograms. Now Edain lives in Edinburgh with her husband, who, by the way, does not have a single puncture on his body. The couple are happy together.
Lizard Man
Eric Sprague - Lizard Man
Eric Sprague? the first man in the world to make his tongue like a snake's by cutting the tip in half and day after day stretching the halves apart so that they would not grow together. Almost his entire body is decorated with green tattoos that imitate the scales of a lizard. And sharpened teeth complete the picture.
Vampire woman
Marie José Cristerna or the Vampire Woman
Mexican Marie Jose Cristerna is very popular in her homeland. Thanks to her unconventional appearance, she received the nickname "Vampire Woman". The fact is that Marie grew fangs on all her teeth, then sewed implants simulating horns into her forehead, covered her with tattoos and piercings most of body, including the face. In addition, a woman likes to wear colored lenses, which makes her appearance even more expressive.
Woman illustration
Julia Gnuse was nicknamed the female illustration
But there are those who are on the list of the ugliest people on the planet not of their own free will. For example, Julia Gnuse is recognized as the woman with the most tattoos in the world. And all because since childhood he has suffered from an incurable skin disease - porphyria. This is what forced Julia to cover her body with tattoos for 10 years. Some compare the girl with painted dishes or a matryoshka doll.
The most scary woman planets
Lizzie Velasquez is officially recognized as the most ugly woman planets
Lizzie Velasquez, also against her will, was recognized by the media as the scariest girl in the world. This is due to a rare combination of two diseases - Marfan syndrome and lipodystrophy, due to which her body has lost the ability to form subcutaneous fat. For the same reason, he cannot see in one eye. But, nevertheless, this did not stop her from leading a more or less normal life. Today, Lizzie is a motivational speaker. She travels around the world giving seminars and writing inspiring books.
Man without a face
Doctors literally removed Jason Shechterly's face
There is another person who, thanks to the media, received the title of the ugliest man on the planet. Retired police officer Jason Shechterly, while on duty, was involved in a terrible accident: a taxi crashed into a police officer's car. The blow was so powerful that it immediately caught fire. The policeman was not immediately pulled out. The result is fourth degree burns. Doctors, in order to save Jason's life, had to literally remove his face. It was this incident that gave rise to the Weekly World News newspaper to include the policeman in the list of the ugliest people on the planet.
The modern world is very diverse. It contains the beautiful, the frightening, the devilish and the divine. This applies not only to some landscape places, but also to people. Some suffer due to serious illnesses that cause deformities, while others are victims of a terrible accident or some other incident. But there are also those who decided to change to the point of real ugliness, just to be happy. Sometimes it's hard to say who is the best ugly person and, often, it is impossible to determine with certainty which of the freaks should come first.
Rick Genest aka Zombie Boy
Born in 1985 in Canada. He became very popular and gained the title of the most feared person because of the tattoos on his face. First of all, attention is drawn to the skeleton’s jaw, made “in its place”, dark circles under the eyes, and a dark nose with rings. All this makes the guy a real zombie. Seeing such a person at night is unlikely to be pleasant.
Elaine Davidson - female piercer
Brazilian E. Davidson received the title of the ugliest person on Earth. This woman has the most large number piercing: there are nine thousand punctures on the body with a total weight of almost four kilograms. Surprisingly, Edein's husband does not have a single puncture.
The image was complemented by 2,500 tattoos. A woman runs a small aromatherapy shop in Edinburgh.
Lizard
The first person to cut the tongue like a lizard was Eric Sprague. He cut the tip in half and daily stretched both halves in different directions so that they would not grow together. Besides language, Eric unusual appearance: His body is decorated with tattoos in the form of lizard scales. The image of the ugliest person is completed by sharpened teeth.
Vampire
Another extraordinary personality is Marie José Cristerna, nicknamed the vamp woman. This Mexican woman grew fangs on all her teeth, had horn implants sewn into her forehead, and covered her body with tattoos. In addition, she pierced parts of her body, including her face. To complete the image of the vampire, she wears colored lenses: they add expressiveness to her appearance.
Picture woman
Among the ugliest people on the planet is Julia Gnuse or the woman-picture, the woman-illustration. She has the largest number of tattoos on her body. She was forced to have them done because of an incurable skin pathology - porphyria. For ten years, Julia covered her body with a variety of designs.
The tattoo covers 95% of the skin. Because of this, the girl was included in the Guinness Book of Records as the most tattooed woman in the world.
For many years, Julia fought the disease, but she was unable to overcome the disease, and she decided to hide the scars with drawings. In 2016, the woman died at the age of 48.
Lizzie Velazquez
Lizzie Velazquez received the official recognition of the ugliest person. She was born in 1989 in the USA. A woman's deformity is associated with two pathologies - Marfan syndrome and lipodystrophy. Because of them, the body has lost the ability to form subcutaneous fats. Pathologies caused loss of vision in one eye. Despite her deformity, the woman leads a normal life, she writes books and travels around the world with seminars.
The girl was advised never to go outside or look in the mirror. There were “well-wishers” who told her to commit suicide. Fortunately, Lizzie turned out to be strong girl and became a speaker.
Jason Schechterly
Among the nominees for the title of ugliest person is Jason Shechterly. The media has already called him the most terrible man.
Jason is a police officer. One day while on duty he was in a terrible accident. The impact was so strong that the policeman's car immediately caught fire. As a result, the man received fourth degree burns. To save his life, doctors had to literally remove his face. The officer underwent a skin graft, but not a trace remained of his sweet face.
One of the media published a photo of Jason with a new face, where he hugs his wife. For it, the photographer received a huge amount of money and several awards. Jason himself sued the publication and won the case. Now the media pays for its reporting by making contributions to a fund for burn victims. In addition, the court revoked the licenses of the newspaper employees who published the photo.
Godfrey Baguma
Among the most terrible people in the world is an ordinary shoemaker from Uganda, Godfrey Baguma. He is suffering incurable disease, but the man does not lose heart and considers himself very happy. Once he took part in an anti-beauty competition and, of course, took first place.
In 2013, Baguma got married for the second time. His first wife cheated on him and he left her. After some time, he met his second love and proposed to her. Godfrey understood that his native girls were unlikely to accept him the first time.
Over the years of marriage, the man had six children.
Yu Junchan
The list of the scariest people in the world includes the hairiest Chinese man, Yu Junchan. He suffers from a rare pathology - atavism, due to which the body is covered long hair. The man is not particularly upset about being included in the ranking of the ugliest people in the world by nature. He gladly allows himself to be photographed, appears in various shows, and gives interviews.
Kala Kawaii
Another ugliest person on Earth is Kala Kawai. Once upon a time, he was unable to stop his passion for tattooing and covered 75% of his skin with drawings. However, it seemed to the man that this was not enough. He decided to complement the image with silicone bumps on the forehead, as well as attach metal horns, and made a snake cut on the tongue.
Tree Man
Indonesian Dede Koswara is on the list of the ugliest people on the planet. At the age of ten he injured himself in the forest. In all likelihood, some unknown infection got into the wound, which caused the development of ulcers on the lower extremities. Gradually they appeared on my hands. Over the course of several years, Dede observed his own transformation into a real monster.
The man cannot walk, he has lost the opportunity to have a family, to live a normal life. In order to somehow support himself, he began working in a circus of freaks.
Doctors were able to remove some of the tree warts, but they soon reappeared. Dede lost faith that he could ever be healed.
Donatella Versace
Fashion representative Donatella Versace is among the top ugliest celebrities. She was attractive, but after an excessive amount of plastic surgery, the woman ended up in the ratings of freaks. The Italian has huge lips, unnatural thinness, sagging skin, and a terribly made nose.
Marilyn Manson
Shock rocker Marilyn Manson holds the position in the ranking of the ugliest people in the world. Few people have been able to see a rock star without makeup: every appearance in public is frightening. It’s not for nothing that they say about this guy that if you see him on the street at night, you can die.
Clint Howard
The actor was always given the roles of scarecrows, for which he received decent fees. It was they who brought Clint success and more than one million dollars.
Evgeniy Bolotov
In the ranking of the ugliest people in Russia, first place was given to Evgeny Bolotov. He has dreadlocks on his hair, tattoos instead of eyebrows, and discs on his lips. The Perm designer claims that people are not intimidated by his appearance, but ask to be photographed with them.
Evgeniy is a real body modifier. It stretches the lips, nose and ears. He likes Australian platypuses.
Everyone knows the canons and generally accepted indicators of ideal human appearance. At the same time, there have long been recognized norms among people, to which specific parts of the body must biometrically and visually correspond. People with proportions as close as possible to ideals are considered the most beautiful and attractive.
But there is also the other side of the coin - when people look so unusual, special, and sometimes downright scary, which causes a certain interest in society. This can be caused by artificial changes in appearance, which a person can consciously undertake for various reasons. Or perhaps - the natural development of human ugliness, occurring due to mutations.
Mutations as a natural process
Scientists have proven that mutations are generated by freely drifting genes and develop as a result of abnormalities in intrauterine development. In this case, mutation is considered to be part of evolutionary development, taking the form of a one-time, conditioned deviation.
Mutations can wear brightly pronounced character, affecting the appearance, limbs and other parts of the human body. There are options when the level of mental development in such cases is not affected, and consciousness remains full. But it often happens that mutations affect not only the appearance external signs deformities, but also directly affect internal development. Such children exhibit dementia and are significantly behind their peers in development.
Mutations can be either congenital or conditional. The main reasons for such interference of nature in the natural processes of fetal development can be considered:
- Congenital diseases transmitted by inheritance;
- Accepting the "wrong" medicines during pregnancy;
- Abuse of drugs, alcohol, tobacco products and chemicals by the expectant mother;
- When the body of the mother or the fetus itself was exposed to radioactive radiation.
In addition, there is a fairly high probability of the birth of an inferior, mutating organism in people who are closely related to each other. It has been proven that incest directly leads to the development of mutations in the body.
Is the desire to turn into a “freak” a perversion or self-expression?
And yet, despite any canons of beauty and attractiveness, some prefer to approach the issue from the other side. People who do not stand out for their beautiful facial or body features strive to become the first with reverse side list - turning into real freaks and mutants.
There are many people in the world who have chosen to change their appearance to a frightening spectacle. For example, this is “Cat Man” Denis Anver, who, thanks to his non-standard appearance and the many manipulations performed on his face and body, was recognized as the most terrible person in the world. Among the actions that he performed on his poor body are: surgical operations, applying various tattoos, piercings and much more.
No less famous throughout the world are “Lizard Man” Eric Sprague with his tattoos and forked tongue, or Brazilian resident Elaine Davidson, on whose face alone you can count about 3 kilograms of piercing jewelry.
It is worth noting that most people, even in everyday life they strive to stand out from the gray mass, either decorating or disfiguring themselves. External and inner beauty depends only on ourselves, and everyone’s personal choice is to create an image that is close to a person and his inner world. But don't go overboard with in unusual ways“self-expression” so that, in pursuit of the attention of others, you don’t become this very freak with kilograms of metal mercilessly piercing your entire body. Or a bunch of meaningless tattoos that leave no living space on the skin.