asian rope tying – The Softer Sex

Corporate Commission: Alan Walt Architects & Ass.
The Client Christmas Card 2007

I met Alan Walt in 2007 when he contacted me via a recommendation from Heidi Erdmann of The Photographers Gallery ZA. Alan creates a somewhat controversial or abstract “christmas” card or seasons greetings type card to his clients at the end of each year. He strikes me as the kind of person who likes to ruffle feathers, challenge perceptions and so on and he uses this opportunity to do just that with his clients.
Previous cards had not been related to issues pertaining to sexuality or gender specifically. I got the feeling that he got a kick out of challenging my notions of the subject since it was the subject we would deal with for his commission if he wanted to collaborate with me as a creative.
I can’t remember exactly how the final concept came up. He wanted to incorporate his company name “AWA” into the product in a subliminal way and we discussed references and ideas and decided to use the [taboo] oriental art of Karada (rope tying) as the vehicle.

I had used Karada references, especially those of Nobuyoshi Araki a few years previously and we discussed then in context of incorporating the — I had used Karada references, especially those of Nobuyoshi Araki a few years previously and we discussed them in context of incorporating the ideas or art in Alan’s project.

I sketched my idea, we confirmed the look and went ahead with the job.

I generally work alone, I prefer it since communicating my creative vision, shoot process, etiquette with nude models or trying to maintain my patience with others working on my set frustrates me.

Alan wanted to be present at the shoot which I found totally unnecessary and purely voyeuristic as apposed to useful (he did not attend).
The shoot took place on a small budget, it was before I had my own studio and I shot it in my lounge using a mix of friends, acquaintances and family members who had willing accepted my request for them to pose for a group nude portrait all the while tied into a rope harness.
I sourced the rope from a local rope supply store in Lakeside, Cape Town and incorporated garments with fabric that would be a little reminiscent of a kimono lifted up to expose the body underneath it.
The tying process was a struggle,- it takes a while to create such an end result and with 5 models one can’t make the first overly tight while she has to wait for a good two hours still until the shoot commences. I did this alone and had an amazing amount of patience from the 5 women.

The end result was good and very close to the initial sketch of the concept. Below is the final image.

I shot the images digitally, this was my second year working with my first digital camera and was also at a time when I was still working at least 50% with my film cameras.

Alan put together a small amount of text which appeared on the back of the card. When I read over it now, 8 years later I’m surprised I agreed to it.

I shot a small series of details at the end of the shoot which I’ve only selected and messed around with now (below).
I like the strong graphic play between the rope and the body shape.

“The Housewives”, Nude Private Commissions:
This is Elle

(Note: “The Housewives” was a term I fondly coined in 2006 after I started getting shoot requests from private, individual women who became my clients. Many of the women who contacted me were married and in their mid 30’s and were doing the shoots as gifts to their husbands. The folder in my archives is still called this and so I’ve stuck to it, in part just for the irony: most of these women are not “housewives” at all, but strong independent and forward thinking women who I have had the honour of documenting.

All are private commissions and the demographic has changed substantially over the years. Some I’m still in contact with, others I’ve totally lost contact with, some have become friends, some may wish not to have their real names used, others don’t mind, some may have their faces obscured for privacy reasons, others have generously shared their experiences of being photographed.)

I photographed Elle in December 2006, fresh from my graduate body of work, she was one of the first five private clients I was ever commissioned to shoot. The images were intended as an anniversary or Christmas gift for her hubby and I was surprised and happy that she was very direct and clear about what she wanted photographed. She was a model, by profession, and at that time a brand new mother to a baby just a few months old, I remember her telling me that she had timed her breast feeding that morning so as to have fuller breasts for the shoot since she was so lean.

The shoot had a bondage/S&M theme and I managed (I’m still not quite sure how I got away with this to be honest) to get the dungeon at the Castle of Good Hope as our totally perfect shoot location. It was on Saturday morning and the shoot was interrupted often by tourists who kept walking in to view the space. The surprise at what they found was pretty entertaining and they looked more at the ropes and lingerie than at anything historic…

I brought a number of items with me, most of which I had collected or created myself for my graduate body of photographs and I suggested to her to bring lingerie, heels etc. She was amazing to photograph.

As one of the first pro models I ever worked with I realised how well she understood the angels of her own body in relation to the camera (or sound of my shutter clicking since she was blind folded in every single image I shot of her).

We shot a sequence of different looks that morning, from black lace lingerie to a super cute three-piece underwear set with heart details (which a previous client had gifted me!) to Shibari and vintage corsets.

My lighting which has always been haphazard and somewhat intuitive felt perfect on this particular shoot and it seemed to enhance that sort of fierce look related to the dominant and submissive concept.

We used wigs quite extensively on this shoot which lent weight to the anonymous submissiveness of the subject, her eyes always hidden. I tied the rope body harness myself for the shibari images.

This last image was one of her favourites, I think it was because of the realistic nature of the rope movement which looks like a whip in this pic.

Working with Elle was exhilarating, every shot was beautiful, with every click I made she moved to a new pose, fluently, instinctively and with total control. We parted ways that day and I was left feeling inspired.