Photograph – Page 173 – Femdom Resource

White Shirt, Armor bonus +1.

I was amused but slightly saddened to stumble across this post over at the Repair Her Armour tumblr. It provides some entertaining drawings of the typical outfits for female characters in on-line role playing games. As you’d expect practicality is not high on the requirement list. Obviously just the thing you want for protection when charging into a cave full of orcs is a metal bikini and stiletto heels.

Predictably enough there’s a dominatrix style outfit on the list. The tumblr artist also gets bonus points for noting that these games often can’t seem to decide if it’s supposed to be a dominatrix or a slave outfit. They just throw a bunch of leather, chains and spikes at it and call it good. Some kinky photographers do much the same thing.

I’m not opposed to some leather and chains now and again, but even in a BDSM setting they can get a bit old. So it made a nice change to find these two images, with nary a hint of cow hide in sight. Just a barefoot woman in a white shirt taking charge of her guy.

The images are from the Woman Worship site. I found them originally on the Geek Domme tumblr.

For anyone wandering about the slightly odd title – armor bonus is an old RPG term and reflects just how much protection an item of clothing gives. Oddly the strange metal bikinis and leather lingerie that female characters get stuck with often seems to offer the same protection as a full suit of armor. In this case her white shirt isn’t going to help much against a bunch of orcs, but this guy doesn’t look like he’s about to put up much of a fight.

Beware of guys with cameras

I often turn up for a session with a camera in my pocket. I like to document some of the more interesting activities I get to experience, even if the end results aren’t exactly studio quality. However, it turns out there’s another type of guy with a camera, and as Rain DeGrey entertainingly describes in this blog post, he’s someone to be avoided at all costs. It sounds like a horrible situation, but she turns it into a great anecdote.

I wrote about the cost of hiring a professional fetish model sometime ago. At the time I commented favorable on the comparison to hiring a pro-domme (for example), while at the same time making it clear these were not in anyway comparable activities. Obviously some other guys can do the same maths, but arrive at very different conclusions.

Of course the sign of a really talented photographer is when somebody will actually pay you to shoot them. One of the best in the BDSM world is Natasha Gornik. She’s the photographer of choice for a lot of the top pro-dommes. So after Rain’s tale of terrible photography, let’s finish with a couple of great shot’s from Natasha’s portfolio.

Antsy

It has been a couple of weeks since I last played and the absence of action is starting to make me grumpy. Some people get sub-drop after playing. I get lack-of-sub-drop.

What’s holding me back is an annoying minor injury. It turns out that scowling at a body part doesn’t make it heal any faster. Nor does prodding it every few minutes. Or concentrating really really hard on healing thoughts. I feel like evolution has let me down. Of course I want my body to get better so I can hurt it again. Perhaps it’s getting smart? Healthy equals that nasty lady in leather hitting it. Niggling injury just equals the odd prod from its disgruntled inhabitant.

I need to feel like this guy again. That controlling arm around the throat. The squeeze of the hand to the face. Slowly sinking back into her control. The warmth of her. So close but untouchable. Damn. That would be good.

I found this image on the Isn’t he lovely when he cries tumblr. It’s originally from the Divine Bitches site.

Forcefully taken

This is one of those images that made my breath catch in my throat when I saw it. It was a real ‘oh…my…God’ moment. A particular position and situation that I’d never even thought about suddenly became a question of ‘When and how can I make this thing happen?’. The forceful screw up against a restroom wall is a common enough trope in movies (both pornographic and mainstream), but somehow I’d never pictured it in the femdom context.

I’m afraid I don’t have an original attribution for it. I found it via the Miss K tumblr.

Updated: Thanks to my observant and knowledgeable readers (in this case scottie), I have a proper attribution. This is Empress Cruel. I think it’s from this clip on the TD24 site. Empress Cruel herself has retired and has no main web site that I can find.

A modern day Aegis

Today’s post brings you a scene that I did with Mistress Cynthia Stone a couple of months ago. Sadly I’m not the most efficient person when it comes to a timely documentation of my activities, and these photographs have been lurking on my computer for weeks. Hopefully the much delayed end result is both interesting and informative for anyone looking for session ideas beyond the standard bondage and beating format.

I should issue the standard warning that the activities depicted may be considered edge play. There is a small amount of blood shown in the images. If you’re OK with that then click through to a page I’ve entitled ‘Casting with Cynthia Stone;.

The image is of Mistress Cynthia Stone taken from her web site.

Bondage mouth puppet

I’m continuing the Japanese femdom theme, but coming forward a few decades. I’d guess this is from the 80’s or 90’s, although I don’t have an original attribution.

The mouth and nose are often neglected in BDSM play. Gags get stuffed in, hoods pulled over or faces fucked, but it’s rare to see people actively playing in a narrow focused way like this. Which is odd, because it’s such a sensitive and important area. It’s how we taste, smell and breath. It’s how we communicate. It’s packed with both nerve endings and symbology. It’s an opening into the body. A vulnerability.

Of course there are some practical considerations. It’s hard to hide marks on the face. I did some face rope bondage with Troy Orleans earlier this year, and didn’t pay too much attention to her warning about the marks that were left. I stopped at a tiny Italian cafe on my way home and wondered why the guy kept glancing up to stare at me as he fiddled with his espresso machine. It wasn’t until I looked in the mirror back at my hotel that I saw the unmistakable deep rope impressions that ran from the sides of my mouth up across my cheeks. I don’t think the barista could have been in any doubt what they were.

As I mentioned I’m afraid I have no attribution for this. It looks like an image scanned from an old BDSM magazine. I do have a shot from another angle showing a close-up of the face.

Bondage as art

A Guardian article on Nobuyoshi Araki caught my eye recently and sent me on a trip down memory lane. If you haven’t heard the name before, he’s a prolific and famous Japanese photographer. He’s probably best known for his images of Kinbaku, aka women in bondage (for example this, this and this). The article itself is a fairly silly one on on the nonsensical topic of art versus pornography, but the man himself has a special place in my heart.

I originally came across his work in the 1990’s when I was still in college. One of the major British television networks showed a documentary about him, which was surprising given the explicit nature of his artwork. The program featured a lot of bondage and showed him working with riggers and models to create complex and beautiful shots. I found it amazing. At the time my exposure to BDSM imagery, and particularly bondage imagery, was very limited. The UK had strict rules on BDSM porn and most of it was either sloppy cheap vintage bondage or cheesy commercial rubbish. Yet here was a real artist taking the subject seriously, working with a skilled team, and showing how beautiful proper rope bondage could be. It opened my eyes to the potential of BDSM for being more than just a bit of kinky fun in the bedroom.

Unfortunately, for the purposes of this blog, I’m not aware of any femdom slanted pieces that he has done. So instead I’ll feature some alternative Japanese bondage, in this case it’s a vintage piece from 1954.

You can see more from the same publication in this gallery. I believe (based on Google Translation) it’s from a magazine called Kitan Club.

I now pronounce you…

One of the things I’ve really come to appreciate about the West Coast of the US is the attitude to weddings here. They’re so much more relaxing and enjoyable than the formal English equivalent. There’s no interminable church service, followed by hours of formal photographs in the church grounds, followed by endless speeches over dinner. I’ve been to weddings here where I strolled from the bar to the ceremony, and the whole thing was done before I’d finished my drink. Hell, my ice didn’t even have time to melt.

In the unlikely event I ever did get hitched, a West Coast style wedding would definitely be my preference, and I’d hope for a few wedding photographs like this one. It’s the third and final one of my little wedding mini-series, and my personal favourite. I love their smiles. Plus, a few shots like this would definitely discourage parents from dragging out the wedding album every time they visited.

I found this on the She wears the trousers tumblr. Annoyingly I’ve been unable (for the second post in a row) to track down the original source for it.

With this leash…

I’m treating this as a continuation of the wedding theme from my previous post, although her dress isn’t exactly a traditional one. But then again, a leash isn’t exactly part of the standard ceremony either, so let’s just roll with the fantasy.

In contrast to yesterday’s shot this groom looks very attentive and eager to go. He has a bit of the ‘Squirrel!‘ about him. I wonder what the equivalent for submissive guys is? From what I’ve seen from most of them it’s probably ‘Boots!‘

I found this image on the subboy and mature ladies tumblr. I’m afraid I couldn’t trace an original attribution.

If anyone knows any reason why this couple…

Wedding themed shots crop up fairly frequently in femdom imagery. I guess that’s not too surprising, given there’s traditionally a power dynamic associated with a wedding day. Although I’m not really sure if they’re reinforcing or subverting a theme. On the one hand there’s the cliche of the blushing virgin bride on her wedding day being deflowered by her virile new husband. Clearly they twist that idea on it’s head. On the other hand there’s the cliche about the husband losing his freedom and being simultaneously emasculated and domesticated by his new wife. In that case they play into the idea. As an aside, I think it’s also interesting that they follow the traditional femdom porn clothing conventions. The woman is in a special outfit denoting her role (white dress/black leather) while the man is dressed conventionally (smart suit/naked).

Typically wedding themed shots don’t do much for me. However, I like this one for the barely suppressed smile on the man passing the couple by. That’s exactly the kind of half-smile I’d be sporting if I passed this pair in the street. There’s always an ongoing and never resolved debate about PDS (in fact Orlando was writing about it just this weekend), but in this case I think they’re spreading a little mirth wherever they go. Particularly if there’s a beaming bride to go with that grumpy groom.

I found this image on Red Head with a Riding Crop tumblr. My internet sleuthing leads me to believe the photographer is on flickr as m.o.n.o.c.h.r.o.m.e. Based on his portfolio it looks like a candid shot snapped in the street, rather than something posed. I also believe it was taken in Edinburgh in August, which almost certainly means it was something to do with the Edinburgh Fringe Festival. Given the leaflets the ‘groom’ is holding, I’m guessing they were drumming up support for a show they were staging. So it’s street theater rather than PDS. Does that make a difference to the debate?