Amaya

For those who don't already know, Kinbaku is traditional Japanese bondage which translates literally as "the beauty of tight binding". It is also often called Shibari, which translates as "to bind". A nice bonus of practicing Kinbaku are the marks that are left behind afterward. While the rope itself is very obvious, I think that the marks left behind tell an interesting story of what already happened.

I don't have much to say about Amaya since Ian the suspension guy brought her by- and I only worked with her for about an hour on this shoot. I don't recall much conversation. I haven't seen her since- I can't say that I really know her at all...

Dessa

Dessa is a former cutter-  someone who practiced intentional self harm and the direct injuring of body tissue without suicidal intent. I've photographed women who were cutters before, but never with the specific reason of wanting to document it. When I initially met with Dessa, we were both a bit apprehensive- she because her scars were always re-touched out, and I because I wanted to make sure that my images weren't like sideshow pics. I was also worried because I tend to be wary of someone who might not be in the best state of mental health. Turns out that all fears were unnecessary- we are now good friends and we have always both been very happy with images that we've made. Sometimes, I actually remove her scars if I think they take away from an image, but I don't do any re-touching if they seem to strengthen an image. She also happens to have one of the best tattoos that I've ever seen- the orchids that wrap around her side and over her left breast. I tend to have a intense dislike for tattoos over the breast (or face)- it seems like a taboo that is best avoided. But I think that it works exquisitely on Katelyn.

Fayth

Fayth is someone with whom I've done a couple of suspension shoots with. She is from Florida, but she passes through Philadelphia every year right before Christmas. So it seems that we do an annual shoot now. This shoot was a quick shoot without a suspension. I had just started shooting in the new shower, and was complaining that I thought it looked too institutional compared to the beautiful tile of the former shower. So she asked if I had some heavy duty pliers...

Adrian Louise

Adrian Louise is someone that I just recently started working with. I have not really taken on anybody new in the past year, and I tend to be apprehensive about doing so. This is because I'm very happy working with the few muses that I now work with, and who never let me down. Well, Adrian Louise is awesome! I've worked with her twice now, and plan to keep working with her!

Little One

Little One is a powerhouse in a very petit package. She is also like a monkey- she can climb anything, as exhibited in a couple of the window shots. She is extremely quiet- we rarely say much when shooting, but she is definitely quite the muse. Like Tanya Dakin, she has worked with so many photographers, and everyone gets something a little different from her. It's easy to get a very glamourous image out of her, despite the fact that she is half the size of a supermodel. I prefer to try and extract the soulful facial expressions that are just waiting to be tapped into.

Meira

Mer is one of my closest friends. She is probably my favorite person to shoot with. Shoots with her are always very laid back and typically without any agenda- pick up the camera and shoot. I always get something good, but if I didn't I don't think that she would mind, which is why I never feel any pressure. Not that I usually feel much anxiety over shooting anymore. I used to get anxiety about any upcoming shoot, but nowadays I only get anxiety about something that has to be done exactly right with a very demanding client. Still, shooting with someone new, I always feel a need to really impress them (not necessarily a bad thing...). The fact that they perhaps have never done a shoot before only adds that much more pressure.

Tali DeMar

Tali DeMar is a burlesque performer based in L.A., who specifically hired me to do a fetish oriented shoot with her for her website- http://www.talidemar.com/  We also did some pin-up stuff, but it was the grittier (yet classic) Bettie Page fetish imagery that she was really looking for. She is a blast to shoot with, and I can't wait until she swings by Philadelphia again.

Maggie

Maggie is a stripper that hired me to do some glamorous PR shots for her. She is a breed of stripper that travels the world headlining at well known clubs in cities like Tokyo, Hong Kong, Amsterdam, etc.- so they hire me to provide images to promote & advertise themselves. At first, Maggie was one of the most difficult persons I've ever photographed- she has a phobia of being photographed! It was like pulling teeth- she was fidgety and evasive. After we got the shots that she needed, though, she wanted to try something more interesting and fetish oriented for the hell of it. I wasn't expecting this to be any easier. After tying her up, though,  she forgot about the camera and came alive. She had never been tied up before, and apparently really liked it. Likewise in the shower, when I suggested using the waterpik, she said that she used it everyday by herself. So I told her to ignore me, and that idea seemed to work like a charm...