I was asked to photographically document some items for a urologist who is about to retire. When it was explained that these items were things purposefully inserted into urethras, there needn’t be further explanation. I was in.

I believe there were about twelve to fourteen jars filled with items, each with a date of extraction. Every jar contained at least two items, sometimes up to eight or so. While there were a few patients these items were removed from, most of them were from just one very sick man. While this behavior, called Sounding, isn’t totally rare, I was told that what set this person apart from others is his intent on self-mutilation.

Rather than insertion for pleasure, this man customized the items he inserted for the sole purpose of destroying his penis. A clear tube with a nail driven in to it diagonally to create a reversed-barb, a large set of tweezers, a razor blade bent at one corner. Many of these items couldn’t be backed-out and had to be removed through a lengthwise incision in his penis.

All the jars with items retrieved from this man were from a period of about four years, which would place him in the clinic for surgery every couple months or so. His habitual mutilation was so constant that there came a point where there was nothing left to save and his penis had to be removed. This didn’t stop him. Months later he returned with items stuck in the area where his penis once was. Soon after, he stopped coming in so one can only imagine what happened to him. I didn’t photograph every jar’s contents, but this is a collection of some of the more noteworthy objects.

Not surprisingly, these images have gone on to become very popular among oddity sites around the world, and the like. It’s a weird world out there sometimes.