Tag: Photograph

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.

Why not both?

This shot of a domme choosing between bound hunks reminded me of a Sardax sketch he posted late last year. Not the exact same set-up, but a similar concept.

It made me wonder what the gender divide would be on this particular fantasy. I think the appeal to a domme is fairly obvious. The appeal to a submissive is more complex. There’s obviously objectification and CFNM at work. However, I think there’s also a need to feel desirable to make the fantasy work. Maybe you don’t need to be quite as ripped as these guys are, but for the average Dad-bod out there, does it still resonate? Or is imagining being hot and physically desirable another element of the fantasy that people enjoy?

This is actually from a still from an animated gif, which was presumably taken from a film. Not sure what the original source was, but if you like the shot you can see the animated version here.

Hanging Around

Some visual loveliness for the weekend. This is Angelina Pirtskhalava-Petrenko & Alexander Petrenko as photographed by Alena Rozbytska for Anoeses. They’re a Ukrainian based brand with some very sexy BDSM outfits and fetishwear. Given the current situation in Ukraine I’m sure they’d appreciate any orders we could send there way.

I sourced this via the labstrakts tumblr. It’s a great source for femdom shots in mainstream (or close to it) media.