I’ve always been fascinated by knots and patterns since I was young. I was a weird kid that loved untying knots in shoelaces and playing Cat’s Cradle string games. I guess the skill never really transferred anywhere until recently when I started rigging models for some fetish shoots.

This is one of my first attempts at Rope Bondage art and the first time Fela was fully restrained like this. I didn’t follow any kind of specific pattern, I just got into the zone and did what made sense with my hands and eyes.

In the end, Fela really enjoyed the whole experience so we’re planning doing more Shibari techniques to use in our future shoots together.

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My first shoot of the year was with my awesome friend Fela Fray. I wanted to try something wild and crazy that I hadn’t thought of doing in years. Shoot on a white backdrop. I wanted to try something new with my photography so instead of creating single pieces I wanted to try doing a small series and a new technique. Fela got this awesome prom dress and wanted to shoot in it. So we did. Not a bad way to start 2010.

A few months ago Bebe swung down to Atlanta for a weekend to shoot with Fela and I. We had a blast and got to try out some experimental ideas that I’ve been wanting to shoot.

More often than not, my imagination far exceeds the limitations of my budget. It’s frustrating a lot of times because I have shots and themes that I’ve wanted to shoot ever since I got serious about photography. And like most average Americans, I never have enough money to truly create what I want. So when I can finally devise of an easy (ie, cheap) method to shoot a scene, the hard part is finding a model who will do it. You have no idea how difficult it is to explain an idea like Septem:Luxuria and not sound like a completely psychotic pervert.

Luckily, I have Fela. Fela knows how crazy I am, but also trusts me enough to know the difference between sticking foreign objects in her for the sake of art, and being perverted. After finishing the Septem:Luxuria shot I went back through the set and realized that I liked how a lot of the other shots came out. So I picked out a few more and decided to polish them a bit.

Model: Fela Fray

This image was planned and sketched out over 2 years ago. It is interesting how my plans never work out the way they were intended. I had just gotten a new job; the economy hadn’t gone to shit; and a new style in my work was emerging. And for a brief time during that Summer I had a small Art Posse (and didn’t even know it). It was roughly comprised of: Jennifer Denise one of the best makeup artists I’ve ever worked with, my friend and pet model Fela Fray, Laura a model-turned-assistant, Daqui a talented hair-stylist, and whichever model we could talk into doing this stuff for us on camera for the sake of art. We were usually creatively powered by Coronas and/or Krispy Kreme Donuts depending what time of the afternoon it was. It was a lot cooler than I’m making it sound.

During a shoot while a model was getting into a new outfit we would actually sit down to discuss this series. We sketched out ideas, picked out models, and argued over interpretations. It was a good time for me creatively. The plan was to shoot the whole series before the year was out, but Life decided I needed another kick to the balls instead. He’s a bitch a like that sometimes. I lost that new shiny job, got a shitty one, the economy started its descent into madness, and the Art Posse fell apart and went their separate ways.

Two years later I finally decide to pick up the camera and start re-shooting this series. Thankfully I know where Fela Fray lives. After discovering that information she was more than happy to help. I worked on this set off and on for several weeks, not quite sure how it should look. When I thought I was done with it I sent a copy to Fela, and the next day I looked at it and decided to modify it again. Being an artist can be stifling at times. There were so many great images from this shoot I may give Luxuria its own side-series (of sorts).

My wife likes to call the color I used “Labia Pink”.

Yes… I do realize its October now. Barely. Sigh.

Well needless to say it got put onto the backburner because I’m a tortured artist with a myriad of distractions and she’s a good friend who has more patience than sharp objects. I finished the last shot I wanted to retouch while in the midst of a retouching trance. A lot of my fellow photographers will know that a retouching trance comes rarely. Often called a “being-on-a-roll”, a retouching trance is a heightened state of mind where a Digital Artist and their inner creative eye (and Photoshop) become one.

Yeah.

Oh yeah, here’s Fela.

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You know, these Holiday cards are a lot more fun to send out when you make them yourself.

Happy New Year 2008 from Low Tek and Friends! Special thanks to Jennifer Denise for makeup. Fela Fray and Genevieve for enduring the cold studio. And to Jewels for being patient. =]

The version without the text will be posted here on New Years Day.

Stay safe everyone.

Anyway, while I was shooting Genevieve, Fela was cool enough to come hang out and let me take some pictures of her under one condition: I couldn’t erase any of her tattoos. Except for this old one on the small of her back, but that’s another story.

So I decided to shoot her naturally…

…and by that, I mean covered in oil…

…in a cold studio.

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This is a continuation of the Doll Series. What’s better than having a naked fuck toy?

Having two.

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