Tag: Photograph

Dom Speak

I mentioned the disappearance of Max Fisch a few weeks ago. It’s still AWOL, so I guess we can finally say it’s gone for good.

Lady Cheyenne has established a new forum site, with a very similar look and feel to Max – Dom Speak. If you’re a fan of femdom and classic web forum then check it out. I just created an account there and it took just a few seconds. Not a huge number of posts there right now but that’s inevitable in something this new. Given the fiasco that is Twitter, it’s good to have other options out there.

I’ll leave you with a shot of the control center from Dom Speak. Moderators and site admins all hard at work under the right kind of leadership.

This is actually by Helmut Newton from American Vogue back in 2002.

Chamber Pot

Here’s an unusual image for its time. Whipping and other forms of corporal punishment is pretty common in vintage shots. Bondage occasionally pops up, as do feet and boot fetishes. But I can’t remember seeing a watersport or toilet play vintage shot before. It must have been a particularly shocking image for its time. It still packs a punch even now.

I’m guessing it was taken in Europe in the early 1930’s, but I don’t have a specific attribution. I sourced it via Madam Is All.

More Manipulation

After a fun weekend in Vegas I’m heading for home. I once again visited the city of sin and didn’t do any sinning. Must be getting old. I did go and see the U2 show at the Sphere which was pretty amazing. I think it’s a space that’s going to set a new standard for concert venues.

For the image in today’s post I’m continuing  the theme of photoshop and image manipulation. I’m not sure of the original image source (it shows up in a bunch of equestrian themed pinterests) but I think the man has been added after the fact. I sourced this version via the Brutal Women tumblr.

 

Tweaking the Image

Before AI there was photoshop. A favorite tool for kinsters who wanted to modify an image to align with their preferences. I’m always amused when scrolling through tumblrs and I stumble across a photograph modified this way. In an internet awash in explicit BDSM imagery, dedicated kink fans still want to create new ones that speak to their passions.

Here’s an example I spotted on the Assertive Ladies tumblr. Originally it was from a photoshoot for a failed ABC show called Mind Games shown back in 2014. The actor is Jamie Ray Newman. I’m not sure who gave her the paddle. They did a decent job of the tweak, although there’s clearly something a little off about the pose.

Alexandra Aderhold

After last post’s old school domination theme, we’re moving onto new school kink and fetish. This image is by German photographer Alexandra Aderhold. It’s a stunning shot, pulling off the trick of being both aesthetically and erotically charged. I want to be in it and yet also have it hanging on my wall.

You can see more from Alexandra, including a book of photographs she’s published, on her professional site. There’s also an interview with her available here. I originally stumbled across the image via labstrakts.

Bye Bye Max?

Max Fisch appears to have dropped off the net. It’s been flaky for years, but one has to wonder if this is the final goodbye.

For those that don’t know what I’m talking about- Max Fisch is (was?) one of the longest running Femdom forum sites and Domina directories. It first showed up back in the 1990’s and for years was  one of the primary sites for pro-domme information and discussion. Sadly, like a lot of these sites, social media sucked away a lot of the potential users and the admins and moderators lost interest in maintaining it.

The loss of internet forum culture to a few huge social media companies is a great shame in my view. It’s not that the quality of the debate was particularly great on the forums – online people are the same all over. But the forum’s were more focused, the conversations longer and the posts were both durable and searchable. You could post a review of a session and another user would be able to find it years later. Good luck doing that on Twitter. You also didn’t have to deal with all the algorithmically driven rage-bait garbage the social media sites throw out you.

Of course there’s nothing technically stopping someone running a femdom forum today. The problem is getting to critical mass when so many of the casual users gravitate to social media.  It’s hard for simple web base forums to compete with thousand of social engineers doing whatever they can to drive more swipes on a media feed.

If you’re like me and find the history of femdom and internet culture fascinating, using the wayback machine to browse old domme site can be a great way to kill a lot of time. For example, looking at the very first capture of Max’s domme listing from 1999, I spotted a link to the famous Ilsa Strix. That in turn led me to her archived site and old interviews with her. You can even still find her original contact protocol.

Wrapped

This amazing image comes courtesy of Elise Graves and Heavy, sourced via this tweet. You can see a clip of Elise doing the wrapping in this clip.

I’ve done a lot of plastic wrap scenes, in a variety of different positions, but never a suspended one like this. I’ll have to add it to my bucket list. If you’ve never tried plastic wrap, then I’d absolutely recommend giving it a shot. It doesn’t have the classic appeal of rope or chains, but it can be great for intense scenes. Easy to apply but very immobilizing, making it pretty hard to beat for functionality vs effort needed. Just remember it can pretty hot once you’re swaddled and be sure to keep safety shears nearby. Oh, and if you’re trying it for the time, start with a simple horizontal position, not a suspended one!

A Day with Countess Diamond

A day with a domme is a cheap way for publications to get some interesting and titillating content. They can often come across as mocking or poking fun at ‘weird’ kinks.

However, this Vice article by Eloise Hendy is one of the better examples I’ve seen. It features Countess Diamond and really captures some of the key components and dynamics of a professional session. I particularly like how it highlights the tenderness and thoughtfulness that experienced dommes can blend in amongst all the ball kicking and penis slapping. It also captures the arc of a well structured session, from the initial chat through to the aftercare. The only weird bit in it is the post-aftercare game of crazy golf. That’s definitely not a typical session experience.

This is a shot of Countess Diamond, source via her twitter feed. If you’re in London and interested in seeing her person, you can find her professional site here.