More than a vice: The fascination of bondage

What happens if you like bondage and like to photograph it? At some point you bring these two preferences together and start taking bondage photos. The backgrounds are diverse, from the fascination of making pictures and the pictures themselves to the possibility to test your own skills with rope and other bondage materials on willing and voluntary beneficiaries. Subjectively, my love of detail and my desire to experiment come together wonderfully here. And if you already have several vices, you can indulge them at the same time.

As already explained elsewhere, I see three main aspects of bondage: the sexual, the aesthetic and the athletic. The sexual aspect should not be in the foreground here, although of course it is implicitly present – also because the picture is sometimes about letting your own head cinema or that of the depicted become real outside of play and session.

For me, the weight of bondage photos clearly lies on the aesthetic aspect. The geometry of the ropes and knots, the structures of the captured limbs, the play of light and shadow are the essence of a successful picture for me. The ropes trace the contours of the body, but also create new patterns and thus tell a story – one that goes beyond the moment captured in the picture.

This is one of the reasons why Ropemarks are my own photo motif. The traces on the skin reflect the course of the ropes and the position of the knots. They recall the past bondage as well as the feelings that accompanied it, in the model as in the rigger.

Imagination

For me, an important part of a relevant photo session is to transform ideas and pictures into reality as successfully as possible, which the participants have in their minds. And even if I primarily use my own fantasies as a basis for motifs and positions on one occasion, the depicted people should get pictures that they like.

This means planning as well as improvisation during the preparation and execution of a shooting. So it can be a matter of thinking through a set and setting or a specific bondage position in advance, building it up or implementing it with little means. Planning includes things like:

• Is a desired location accessible but not overrun by vanillas and other civilians at the time of the shooting?
• Do I need an assistant for light, wind and fog, or to get the model quickly and safely into position and back on the ground?
• Do I have to wait a certain time of the year or day for the lighting situation during an outdoor shooting, or can I be tricked?

Normally, however, even with optimal planning, improvisation cannot be neglected – and that is what makes the whole thing so appealing: Be it that you have to evade weather conditions or other imponderables, be it that effects or props on site don’t work the way you thought they would: Then you just do something different, and in interaction with the models you often get very interesting pictures.

Whether planned or improvised: It is often important to me that a picture also tells a story. It doesn’t have to be the same story for every viewer – but it can be more than “Ey, woman in shackles, awesome”. Due to my cultural preferences I like to be inspired by classics of the film noir or literary role models, by the “Damsel in Distress” scenarios not only Hollywoods or by the big riggers and photographers of the scene. And if the model wants to tell her own story – so much the better.

By the way: Just as Shibari has a variant of the seemingly sloppy bondage that requires considerable practice, the motifs that seem improvised to the viewer often make the greatest effort when photographing, especially when one’s own tendency towards perfectionism is in the way. Conversely, without Photoshop, extremely effective effects can often be achieved by the simplest means.

Ropes and fun with it

One part of the fascination of bondage photos is the direct preparation on the model, which combines creativity and craftsmanship just like the light construction – the bondage itself. As a rigger, I want to try out new things and implement proven methods quickly and well. At the same time I have to consider the figure and fitness of the model. Not every beneficiary brings his elbows together behind his back or can endure a hogtie for more than five minutes. In addition, during a photo shoot I usually have to tie the ropes tighter than in the game, because otherwise it looks too loose in the pictures. Here the joy of “hacking” in the original sense plays a role – finding an elegant solution to a problem.

Also relevant is the sporting aspect, in more than one respect. The demand on one’s own ability and routine is that the bondage should look good, not hurt unintentionally, but still hold and not just be a rope decoration, and: its execution should not last too long. The latter plays a role if the model is too lightly dressed for typical Central European temperatures or has to go into strenuous positions for the picture.

It is part of this that one or the other restraint or location can nevertheless represent a certain imposition for a model; it has to get involved with that. That’s why I prefer to photograph with models who are themselves interested in ropes & co. and know what to expect. Pictures make it very clear whether someone is having fun or tearing down a routine job. But if a potential beneficiary throws himself enthusiastically in the posture and even has a handful of ideas up his sleeve, I like to throw the equipment into the car for good pictures and also accept a longer journey: Have rope, will travel.