Forums >
General Industry >
Bondage Photos
Why is it that I will find a beautiful model on this site, when I look at her portfolio she will have a bondage photo or two included? I don't like to think that I am that nieve. I have been involved in commercial photography for 15 years and when I look through a models portfolio here in NYC they never have such photos. Why do models find it neccesary to include them here. I do not think agencies such as Ford, Next, Click, Marlyn, Madison, Mode to name a few and other top agencies care to see such work. Maybe bondage just isn't my schtick but whatever...... Interested in what others think. Feb 06 06 08:37 pm Link Mostly they do it to bug you. M Feb 06 06 08:50 pm Link StMarc wrote: I know that's why I do it. But seriously, why is it an issue for you? Feb 06 06 08:55 pm Link Ford, next, click, blah blah blah, aren't paying any attention to us, so.... what do we care what they want to see? Feb 06 06 08:56 pm Link I believe it's simply because bondage is one of many forms of modeling, and the girls who do it may not be interested in the sort of high fashion work with which those agencies deal - so they post the type of work they do hope to get. I'm not sure if you're new to the site, but MM seems meant for any kind of modeling other than pornography, which fortunately enough, includes chains, straps, and the odd straitjacket :-D However, if someone's main interest is fashion, then it is possible a bondage shot or two may turn a potential photographer off of working with them - some people consider that less "serious" and may be looking for someone who works pretty much only in their style. Comes down to people doing the exact kind of thing they want to do, I'd say :-) Sonntag Feb 06 06 08:58 pm Link Darque wrote: It really is not an issue for me. Was just curious. It is an entirely different market than what I do. Feb 06 06 09:00 pm Link Chip Miller wrote: Its not your thing, so, don't think about it... Feb 06 06 09:02 pm Link Max V wrote: Sounds fair to me. Feb 06 06 09:03 pm Link Chip Miller wrote: I know models who work in the bondage genre whose careers go well into their 40s... not many Ford or big agency models get past 30 before they are considered beyond their useful working life.... very sad, but true Feb 06 06 09:05 pm Link Chip Miller wrote: Maybe some models are willing to do more and varied types of work. At least one model I work with has been a cheerleader, stage actress, movie actress, fashion model, figure model, bondage model, fetish model, parts model, and probably a half dozen things I'm not remembering (she's done a lot of things...not in the Buckaroo Banzai astrophysicist-brain surgeon-rock star style, but it was quite a long list!) Feb 06 06 09:08 pm Link David Klein wrote: In some cases, models in their 40s are just getting started. Two models I have worked with are over 50, and I know of one model who is still doing well and has just passed 60... Feb 06 06 09:09 pm Link David Klein wrote: I am not trying to knock bondage. I know there is a great market for it with good money to be made for everyone involved...not to mention the art of it. Feb 06 06 09:10 pm Link actually, some bondage has been included in the more "elite" styles of fashion photography. my friend rigged some models for images that were to be used in west east magazine http://westeastmag.com/ and i know some others that have been able to go beyond normal 'porn' boundaries like my buddy thomas rusch http://thomasrusch.com/ his work with bondage & rope, nudity & latex has not damaged his ability to get work with more mainstream clients. (page 3 of his site has the bonage/fetish stuff, tho he hasn't added our work yet. gah.) Feb 09 06 05:46 am Link Chip Miller wrote: Why is it that every photographer and model even remotely involved with "the industry" assumes that every other photographer and model wants to be part of "the industry"? I certainly can't speak for everyone, but I can tell you that I have absolutely no interest in "the industy" -- none whatsoever. I do what I do because I love creating images that reach people, and the models I work with seem to feel the same. Feb 09 06 06:47 am Link Ok here is my 2 cents on bondage photography. It is just my opinion, my point of view and where I am right now, so don't all of you bondage photographers and models get all defensive like you all ways seem to do on these forums when someone questions bondage photography. That is partly what this site is all about; a diverse community of photographers artists and models trying to understand each other. So here goes. One one level I do see the artistry in bondage photography. The tieing of the ropes and knots is an art it self and I continue to be amazed at how many different ways there is to to tie some one up with ropes chains or what have you. A lot of the work I see has fantastic photographic merit as well with excellent well balanced lighting and interesting poses and compositions. On the other hand I've seen just as much work where all of this seemed to be an after thought, as if the tieing up of the model was an activity in itself afterwhich someone yelled, "hey we need to get a shot of this, go grab a camera.. On the flip side though I see bondage photography as playing with the darkside of human nature. Spending a good part of one's life trying to figure out how to bound and gag a nude woman seems a little twisted to me. Many of these photographs do play out scences of violence and control; the bound model the obvious victim and the photographer and viewer the ones in control. Is this something people are walking around really fantasizing about doing? I think to some degree it really is, we all have a dark side with dark thoughts. But think about it, if some of the scences portrayed in these photographs actually happened, where someone grabbed some woman of the street stripped her naked, tied her up(and done whatever else) we would all be shocked and appaulled at the story, especially if we happened to be the victim. Oh it is just a fantasy you might say, well I believe if you mediatate on something long enough you will eventually do it. So this is the duality of my thoughts concerning bondage photographs. On one level i can look at a bondage photograph and see the artistry in its production but then on the other hand I'm wondering what the message is in the subject matter itself and whether that is a good thing. Actually I think bondage photography is less about the photography itself and more so about the sexual fantasy or outlet. People do it and participate in it because it turns them on. Enough said. Feb 09 06 07:56 am Link Max V wrote: Think about what? Feb 09 06 08:00 am Link I shoot bondage because it is my lifestyle and it tends to get a bad rap. I see it from a more sensual and serene standpoint and I try to convey that. Many of the women that I know who are into it when asked why they do it will tell you that they feel safe and secure when bound. I'm the first one to say that it is NOT for everyone, and any defensiveness I may radiate comes from the blythe reaction most people give when they hear the word bondage. Darque Feb 09 06 08:05 am Link Darque wrote: Fairly said. It is all about trying to understand what we don't understand. Feb 09 06 08:08 am Link Oh goodies, another thread about Bondage Photos from someone who doesn't understand. Is the search feature broken or did the earlier threads not cover something? Feb 09 06 08:09 am Link Well being a bondage photographer (well i am a lifestyle peroson who does roep bondage art, and well now photographs it). I have been emailed by a lot of models asking to do bondage shoots with me over the last 6 months. And i always ask why you want to do a bondage shoot with me. and they say 1. They think it artistic so they want to try it. 2. They already like bondage and want to shoot with a more artistic bondage photographer. 3. they want to have some bondage work in the portfolio to show diversity. Which the first 2 for me are fine and good answers. The 3rd one I always though was kind of weird. But I donât think any of them how followed thru with shooting with me anyway. I have a crazy high % of girls flaking on me who set up dates to shoot with me. So I being extremely pickier on whom I set shoots up with now. But I do not know how having bondage in your portfolio can help you get more non-bondage/fetish work, well unless you want to be a bondage/fetish model. But i think most photographers would not care as long as the girl looks how they want them too. Well unless there close-minded, and well close minded people usually block out tones of people for lots of different reasons besides bondage. So basically I have no clue why, except for why not! Feb 10 06 12:09 pm Link Ceehawk Multimedia wrote: What exactly is wrong with exploring the dark side of human nature? It's there, it exists, you acknowledge it by even raising the question. Some of us happen to think it's a far more interesting thing to explore... with or without bondage involved... than the mainstream stuff that everybody else is already doing. Feb 11 06 05:56 pm Link Chip Miller wrote: Same reason Baskin-Robbins has more than one flavor. Feb 11 06 06:04 pm Link Why?.... because I'm just a rope slut. Feb 12 06 05:48 am Link Oh goody. I haven't responded to this one yet. Disclaimer: My experience and views are mine only and don't necessarily reflect those of other photographers, other men, other trolls, models, Americans, products of Western Culture, Californians, former Christians, current practitioners or anyone else. Back when I was doing color night street work, negative space (in that case, shadow) was important. A couple of friends who shot fetish suggested my style would work nicely with fetish photography. I'm vanilla, but I read up on it, asked a model I was shooting for an L.A. mag if she knew anyone who wanted to be tied up, she volunteered, I bought some rope, and that's how it started. I'd been a Boy Scout and I'd been a cop so functional bondage was actually simple to do. So I shot a bunch of it, sold some of it, and continue to shoot bondage once in awhile. But the question is why models do it or have it in their portfolios. Models found me. Locally, word of mouth brought a dozen girls to me who wanted to be bound naked and photographed. Most weren't models at all, but just were interested in the experience in a known safe environment. Some were well-recognized fetish models and others had websites and fans had requested bondage. Some of the models wanted it in their books because it's what their lives were about - they were submissives and wanted to be sexually dominated. Some models used it because it is another style to show. A few wanted it because they saw the beauty in the photographs and maybe in the concept of submission. The models had reasons all across the board. My own reasons were first because I wanted to try it, later because it's a whole heap o' fun handling and tying up naked chicks, and now because I like to indulge the women who model for me. And it's still a whole heap o' fun. -Don Feb 12 06 09:57 am Link I did a rope bondage shoot last year, for the first time. It's not a lifestyle for me, but still, I contacted the photographer to do a shoot. You can get so many differnent photographs from one shoot, involving rope (bondage). From the model, to the knots, the rigging, everything makes for a spectacular photograph! I have tattoos, and to see how they looked being bound by rope, it blew my mind really. It's just a choice, just like wearing certain clothing, being nude, getting airbrushed, etc... Feb 12 06 10:13 am Link Darque wrote: Good point, Darque. Many people don't know there's a very contemplative aspect to being bound, especially with rope. Personally, I find it a meditative experience when being tied by someone I trust ("trust" being the operative word, but that's the way with everything, isn't it?). Most just see it as a form of perversion (ok, admitted perv here), but there's so much more to it. Feb 12 06 02:30 pm Link So.... who's going to fetish con!! Hahaha... I had to say it! Feb 12 06 02:31 pm Link A chacun a son gout - each to his (or of course her) own taste. To the eye of some (many, even!?), a finely bound woman is beautiful and sensuous. Feb 13 06 05:00 pm Link Samantha Grace wrote: I plan on going Feb 13 06 05:02 pm Link ...Stacy wrote: I second that! Feb 13 06 05:09 pm Link Samantha Grace wrote: I'm too far away and don't have the resources to go, but I live 30 miles south of Seattle and we have a healthy fetish community here so I'll continue to shoot here and be content. Feb 13 06 05:14 pm Link Mayanlee wrote: Trusts is the key in a lot of things. Actually come to think of it, trust is kind of a rush; some of us are trust junkies I think. lol But betray a trust junkies trust and and you're cut off...permanently Feb 13 06 05:15 pm Link Samantha Grace wrote: "Not I," said the Little Red Hen. Feb 13 06 06:40 pm Link *sigh* Modelmayhem includes all types... SOme girls who have the body and the height are here waiting to built their ports so they can be discovered- and model professionally- some are here as a hobby..... some of us are here as Alt models which may or may not include bondage modeling- what you will see here is VARIETY- I just spent the last week going to major agencies with a girl who is looking to get signed- all the comp cards on the walls were all the same.... same type of head shots with the same style of images on the other side- pretty girls- "typical" models.... most of them made me yawn- none of them inspired me whatsoever..... you will find all types on MM- don;t ever assume that we are all here expecting to be "ford" type models- that would indeed be silly and naive. Feb 13 06 06:52 pm Link Craig Thomson wrote: We will run into each other someday. I am not heavy into the fetish community myself. I am more into retro fetish, and stockings. Feb 14 06 02:02 am Link Chip Miller wrote: Why is it that you "fashion/glamour" photogs think that all anyone should care about is your little world of modeling. A lot of us couldn't give a rat's ass about Ford, Elite, etc or rags like Cosmo or Maxim Feb 14 06 02:08 am Link D. Brian Nelson wrote: i'm in love with Donley. Feb 14 06 02:16 am Link Mayanlee wrote: I just love when a girl knows that... and says that. Feb 15 06 01:56 am Link vanscottie wrote: What he said. Feb 15 06 07:21 am Link vanscottie wrote: We are fetish and we are here to stay...... can't get used to us? don't look at us. Feb 15 06 07:31 am Link |