Bmezine.com
It's a huge collection of photos and stories of people brave enough to modify themselves in accordance with their own wishes.
Highly recomended, as is this book. Hope this helps you find what you're looking for. :)
But this book is a bit different, I suspected and hoped this would shine a different light on my culture when I first heard about it. Having Reverend Haworth's input made my hopes soar even higher, he being the frontman to all that is extreme body modification in the WORLD at the moment. There are quite a few piercer's in the world, but none with his intelligence or dedication to do surgical mods with such grace and fluence, he is THE Body Modification Artist of our times. And of course he's my COBM Rev. of choice, which may mean I'm a bit biased. :)
Nice pictures, not so artistic that someone who doesn't know much about modification won't know what's going on (such as with ModCon's photos which I have to explain in detail to people). The book as a literary whole is put together well, and gives a broad expanse of insight on body modification... showing it as human society's natural progression that we've followed since we first evolved, not as a fad meant to draw attention.
Pagan Fleshworks is a better book than most when it comes to this topic, it didn't change my views on anything and I didn't agree with everything written. But it wasn't the usual "in-your-face-this-is-what's-right"... that people who throw around their doctorates as a means of justification put out regularly.It gives the mind room to interpet, and conceive it's own thoughts... because after all that's what this culture's about... freedom of choice and expression.
It's not a must have buy to me (even though I own it), but it certainly deserves a checkout from the local library.
Acts of body modification are deeply rooted in physical impulses that are obscured in our technological society. As we become more removed from the physicality of our existence, we lose touch with an essential part of our humanity. Body modification is a way of reconnecting to our bodies, to the earth, and to the divine.
Pagan Fleshworks reveals that the prevalence of body modification--tattooing, piercings, brandings, and implants--is the postmodern way to heal the body and enliven the soul. These "fleshworks" are the result of people creating their own rituals and symbols of meaning in order to feel a sense of the divine within. Maureen Mercury relates the various stages of obtaining fleshworks to the stages of alchemy, showing how fleshworks lead to psychic transformation--soul-making. Using mythological imagery and the stories of those who have chosen to modify their bodies, she identifies the signposts of our journey toward self-expression, exploring the connection between our desires and our outward life. More than 30 riveting color photographs by leading body modification artist Steve Haworth provide the perfect visual complement to this examination of the soul as it rises toward freedom.