See no evil

One thing that getting involved in BDSM has taught me is how simple things can drastically alter my perception of reality. People are constantly building a model of the world in their mind. They combine the signals from their senses to create a personal version of reality. I think most people see this as a very robust and simple additive process. Faulty or missing signals should not change what reality is. I suspect we have to implicitly believe this or we’d go crazy. But in fact adding or removing a signal doesn’t simply enhance or reduce our internal model of the world. It mutates it in far more complex ways.

I experienced a reminder of this tonight, while playing with Lydia. She had me transfixed in a web of ropes, electrics attached to various points, and was scratching and piercing me with a collection of needles. As far as activities go this was pretty intense, but nothing too unusual for us. Then she introduced a blindfold. In theory this shouldn’t have changed too much of my mental model. The only thing I could see was her ceiling or her face. It wasn’t like I needed to be reminded what either of them looked like to understand what was happening. Yet it radically changed how I felt.

With the blindfold on I pulled away from the pain. I feared it. The sensation was sharper, more intense. My anxiety levels rose. I said ‘no’ occasionally, something which does nothing to slow Lydia down, but is unusual for me. My sense of the surrounding world shrank. I lost track of time.

When she removed the blindfold, everything changed. I moved towards the pain, wanted it. The actual sensation of it changed. My breathing slowed and I felt calmer. I fixated on her, and felt a powerful wash of emotion towards her. My vocalization changed from screams to moans. I found I could more easily focus without being distracted by the electric shocks. The engineer in me wants to say this makes no sense. The signal from my eyes was telling me nothing I didn’t already know. In terms of information theory, the entropy of the signal was zero. Yet, it clearly did radically change my experience and perception of what was happening.

I’ll leave you with an image of a man experiencing his own version of a modified reality, courtesy of Divine Bitches.

Domme with bound and blindfolded man

Augustine returns!

Augustine’s artwork featured in my very first post to this site, and he was the first artist I added to the Femdom Artwork page. He closed the original site for his work some time ago, so I was very happy to hear (via a comment he left) that he’d started a new tumblr featuring both his old work and any new pieces. There are only a handful of drawings there currently, but I’m looking forward to seeing it grow in the future.

Artwork by Augustine

Nurse Ratched Revisited

Medical role play is pretty common in BDSM and particularly in femdom. It’s a natural fit with the dominant female authority figure and all those invasive and potentially painful medical treatments. Everything from needles and catheters through to straightjackets and dental gags have been appropriated into the kinky domain.

Most femdom medical imagery is pretty fetishistic, with lots of shapely nurses brandishing random medical equipment and staring into the camera. For example, this kind of shot. Pretty but not all that scary. For really disturbing kinky medical themed images it turns out the fashion industry is the place to look. Specifically this shoot for Interview Magazine by photographer Steven Klein featuring Karolina Kurková and Crystal Renn.

Apparently it draws heavily on the institutional white trend of Spring 2012 and features such designers as Jennifer Fein, Stella McCartney and Dolce & Gabbana. It’s certainly one of the most fetishistic and BDSM heavy fashion shoots I’ve ever seen. I’m guessing they must have hired a professional bondage rigger for the ropework shot. I think if a photographer for somewhere like Kink.com had come back with these images they’d have sent him away with the instructions to come up with something a little less fucked up next time.

Karolina Kurkova & Crystal Rennfor  Interview Magazine

Karolina Kurkova & Crystal Renn for Interview Magazine

A silken rope

I find long hair on a woman immensely sexy. Just to see it flick and shimmer as she moves is a wonderful visual. And from a tactile perspective, it can create a very sensual touch. I love to be tied down, spread-eagle, and feel her hair gently caress me, sliding across my chest as she leans in to bite and pinch. Or, as she rests alongside my body, torturing it with her hands, her cascading hair forming a delicate sensuous connection between us.

From the look of the image below, I’d guess somebody has been watching the movie Tangled. It’s a nice idea, but he better be careful how he moves. Any sudden jerks may have unpleasant consequences.

Bondage with hairI believe the image is by the artist Pain-inSide-me on deviant art (free login required). I found it on the bluekeys tumblr.

Lessons in control

In the last few months there have been countless mainstream articles using the 50 Shades of Grey phenomena as a jumping off point to write about BDSM. I’ve commented on some of the poorer examples in the past. Today I’m happy to bring you one of the better ones. It’s by Vanessa Pinto and describes her experiences in a class on female domination run by Midori.

It’s a 3 day course and features lectures, a field trip and a lab session with a trainer bottom to practice on.

Something very primal came over me, and as I circled him like a bird of prey, I could see that he wasn’t as complacent as he once was. When I wound up to slap him in the face and saw the reaction that I yearned to see, one of peace mixed with excitement. I knew that he was mine to do with as I pleased.

It struck me that I’d absolutely love to be one of those trainer bottoms. And that’s not because I particularly like the idea of the play itself. I’m sure that an hour or two with a strange and novice domme is not going to compare to the regular sessions I enjoy with experts who have done it for years. I also don’t kink on semi-public play or exhibitionism. What makes the role so appealing is the chance to watch someone else discover the joy of BDSM. There’s a lot of discussion on femdom blogs about how the culture of kink puts potentially dominant women off. Just for once it’d be nice to see the other side, where a talented educator can help some women explore a repressed and potentially important part of their sexuality and personality. I think it’d be immensely fulfilling to be part of that process.

The image below features Midori and Mayan and is most definitely not taken from her introduction to female domination class. I’m fairly certain suspension scenes would be in the advanced school. This is from the movie Silken Sleeves by Maria Beatty.

Scene from Silken Sleeves starring Midori

Concentration and surrender

After the strangeness of the last couple of posts, here’s a return to what passes for normality around here. It’s a simple shot. Some rope bondage, a naked man and a focused woman. It really caught my eye for the contrast between their expressions. It’d be hard to get a greater difference. She’s concentrating, trying to judge the exact pressure and movement necessary to achieve the effect she wants. He’s lost to the world, head back, surrendering to the sensation. It’s hard to tell if it’s pleasure, pain or both that he’s experiencing. Either way, it’s a great moment to capture.

Man and women caught in the momentI found this on the Gustos Extremos tumblr.

Suffering for his art

The photographs below are the work of DanAkuma on deviantART (free sign-up required to view). And I really do mean all his own work, in the truest sense of the word. He’s the photographer, rigger, editor and sole model. He uses a real doll to stand in for the domme and then composes together photographs that are taken on a timer. He describes a little of how the first shot was created in the gallery comments.

It took a good hour to get the angle right with the right lens to show off both of us in equal proportions in the frame…
… it was 3 days worth of post to correct certain things like getting rid of the tripod legs, and warping the top part of my body to the right, so my head is inside the toilet (it was actually next to it when I took the photo), then adding all the shadows in.
Dan Akuma

I think they’re very creative images in their own right, let alone for something created by someone performing in every possible role. I always enjoy seeing someone with an imaginative vision just go for it, and do whatever it takes to realize it.

Double Jeopardy by Dan Akuma
Ownership by Dan Akuma

Bottle service

I don’t feature a lot of sissy style feminization shots. This is not because I have anything against them. They’re certainly one of the more controversial kinks, but I don’t have an issue with them on political grounds. My problem is typically the aesthetics of the situation. Middle age guys dressed up as serving maids often look a little ridiculous. I think it’s great when someone really nails the look and can pull it off, but since humiliation is often one of the goals, that’s the exception rather than rule.

Fortunately, when it comes to artwork, anything is possible. As a result we get very cute maids like this one, featuring a sexy outfit, a collar plus cuff combo and a big stiffy. The bondage is particularly effective when you think about the physics of the situation. To place the tray down and pour the drinks she’ll need to get down on her knees, or at least get good at bending over. Both of which seem like useful positions for such a delightful young lady.

Maid TrainingThis image has been floating around the web for years. I found it most recently on the Eros Art tumblr. I’m afraid I don’t know the original artist, so if you can help out with the attribution, feel free to leave a comment.

Deep breath in

I like the contrast between these two shots. The first is sweet and good-natured. There’s some light bondage, a gentle kiss on the cheek and a sweet smile. The second is dynamic, explosive. Her controlling hand on the back of his head contrasting with his shocked expression as he sucks in fresh air. Breathplay and bondage. It’s a winning combination.

Xana Star and Danny Wylde in hot-tub breathplay scene
Xana Star and Danny Wylde in hot-tub breathplay sceneI found this on the Work Is Never Over tumblr. If you’re a fan of shots of submissive guys, it’s definitely a tumblr worth browsing. Originally these images are from a Men in Pain shoot feauring Xana Star, Mika Tan and Danny Wylde.

Happiness is the moment before impact

I have a bone to pick with you guys and girls. I just discovered that on my Femdom Images page the link to the Geek Domme tumblr was incorrectly pointing at the Following Blindly Again tumblr. Now technically speaking I realize that this was entirely my mistake. And the following blindly tumblr is a jolly fine one in it’s own right. But come on people. Thousands of you are looking at that page everyday (I know because my server logs tell me so) and nobody spotted that mistake? We’re collaborating here, don’t leave it all to this idiot.

I’ll make my apologies by featuring an image I found and enjoyed on the Geek Domme tumblr. There’s a lot to like here. The simplicity of her outfit. The marks already on his body. The expression on his face. The minimalism of the shot, and the tension of the impending impact. It’s a great image, courtesy of Smutty Productions.

Mistress about to strike contented slave