Monday, January 31, 2011

Thora & Meira

This shoot is my first one in a dominatrix's dungeon- Mistress Thora Nang's. While dungeons have long interested me, and I've had access to some in the past, I've avoided shooting in them. They usually seem too contemporary or cheesy to me. Not to mention that I would not have the same control or comfort that I have in my own studio. The benefit, though, is that everything is right there- it's like being a kid in a candy store. Which is an understatement in Mistress Thora's dungeon! She has an incredible selection of equipment, apparatus and furnishings. It actually causes sensory overload- I have no idea what to try out next. I'll definitely be back there to shoot again...















Monday, January 17, 2011

Lee

This tie was fairly traditional Kinkabu, although the use of cheap twine definitely was not. Kinkabu usually employs quality jute rope (or hemp rope). I tend to be more concerned with my own aesthetics rather than being proper. I think that the twine gives a wonderfully rough look- practically falling apart as I apply it. It's difficult to work with, and it's not comfortable- but I none the less want to try some more of this. It really digs into the skin and leaves nice marks, too...




Wednesday, January 12, 2011

Jade Vixen

I've always, as far back as I can remember, taken pictures of marks left by clothing. These marks fascinate me because they seem to be like ghosts that soon fade away. The pictures of them were always simply documents, though, as opposed to having the same importance of whatever else I was shooting. Consequently, I was really dropping the ball on subject matter that could of had the potential strength of anything else I photograph. Lately I've been spending much more time shooting these intriguing textures, not to mention tying corsets and ropes ever more tighter to achieve better marks...







Monday, January 10, 2011

Meira

These images are documenting a practical matter- washing the icing off from the icing shoot, which I've previously posted. A very nonchalant fifteen minute shoot that was more goofing around and chatting (along with Izzy), rather than shooting. I often get better shots with Meira just being casual, as opposed to thinking about it too much.









Tuesday, January 4, 2011

Little One

These two images of Little One represent an example of something that I've been working on during the past couple of years. I've been going back to older images and completely starting over from scratch, and finding new ways to finish them. That is the beauty (and possibly the frustration) of the potential of negatives- whether film or digital. The possibilities of what a technically good negative can be turned into are endless. In the past, my modus operandi was to retain good solid blacks, make sure that the lightest areas were not blown out- and then let everything else fall in between. This was a logical way to work in the darkroom with film, with some burning & dodging here and there to help. Using layers in Photoshop, though, allows me to exploit areas of detail that would have been impossible or at least extremely difficult in the darkroom. Rather than exploiting the possibilities of distorting or retouching images, I'm finding that instead, I can create levels of detail that inherently exist, but were way beyond my reach in the darkroom. That is to say that I'm not making detail up, but merely excavating it very carefully, much the way an archaeologist carefully excavates a dig with fine brushes and other tools. After all, that's exactly what Photoshop is anyway- a very powerful tool. Of course, all tools can be used either heavy-handedly or with fine precision. I've discovered that using fine precision is allowing me to make images that are hyper-real, instead of becoming hyper fake.

Speaking of detail, the images that I post here are actually scaled-down versions in order to be viewed easily on the blog- if the image is clicked on, a larger and more detailed version can be seen...








Saturday, January 1, 2011

Laura

The following quote is from a NY Times article that I read today:
"No organ is more promiscuous than the eye, and no appetite more insatiable than the hunger to look. These truths go a long way toward explaining the preoccupations of a culture whose interest in imagery is defining."
I could easily have a lot to say about what I feel regarding this quote. It is probably best to just leave it here on it's own, though, since the reason I like it so much is that it sums up many vague thoughts that I have- and so well in just a couple of sentences...


The following images are of Laura, from a shoot about eight months ago.