Author Archives: Ariel Anderssen
Booking an Ariel Anderssen
In case you’re interested I thought I’d put a blog post together for those of you who may be curious about booking a fetish model. This post is about bondage modelling and I’ll try to follow it up with one about booking a spanking model from my perspective soon (and by soon I probably mean in about a year, cos I’m rubbish at posting…) I know plenty of professional fetish models with different guidelines and limits, so this is only a personal perspective. But I hope it may be of interest to anyone who wonders how this industry sometimes works.
So here are some FAQs, some of which I may have made up to entertain myself. Pictures are all by kind permission of Restrained Elegance this time round.
‘Can I actually book a real life fetish model?’
You certainly can; we like it when you do, actually. And some of my best work has been done by people who started out as bondage fans, not as professional photographers.
‘Do I need to tell you what to expect before we arrange a booking?’
Yes please. The more detail the better really. Knowing where I’ll be, for how long, and whether I can see samples of your work somewhere are all very reassuring. That’s not to say it’s impossible to work with a model if you’re new to photography, but if that’s the case I’m likely to want to shoot at a studio where I’ll be sure of being safe if I can’t check references for you. And if you’ve never tied someone up before, I’d recommend getting some training or booking a rigger because it’s easy to make dangerous mistakes as a beginner, even with the very best of intentions.
‘Is a photoshoot a bit like a play session?’
No, it really isn’t . Pretending you’re not going to let someone go once they’re tied up might be very good fun if you’re in a long-term relationship with the tied-up person (though not necessarily) but it won’t go down awfully well with a professional model. And it might make you sound a bit crass, really. Expecting your model to drop into subspace or have an orgasm is possibly over-ambitious, but aiming to get good quality pictures and video of bondage which will hopefully be very sexy for the viewer is absolutely realistic. Many models, whether or not they like bondage in their personal life, are wary of working with people who make them feel as though what they really want is a play-date. I do my best work with photographers who seem clear as to where the boundaries between work and play lie. And I tend to be more conservative with anyone who appears prone to over-excitement at the prospect of having a real-life girl in his studio.
‘Can we do suspensions?’
Yes please! I love them. I reserve the right to see evidence of your previous work before I let you hang me up from the ceiling, and to be sure you understand the safety implications (and that you have plans in place for if something goes wrong). But go ahead, they’re super fun. Brilliant! Bear in mind that doing multiple/very tough suspensions during one day is likely to bruise your model though, which could effect her other bookings for the week. Do pay attention to her body type (taller models are often heavier, so a position that works for a 5ft, light-framed model may be unfeasibly painful for a 6ft model). And please, please plan rigs that take account of pre-existing injuries or medical conditions. It’s not rude to ask!
‘Can we do outdoor work?’
Yes, we certainly can. Not in a busy shopping centre, and not for 8 hours in the snow without a break, but if we can scout out a great location then lets have a go (it might be good to have a plan B in case it’s horrible weather though).
‘What about gags? Will you wear them?’
Absolutely – any kind really. I like them to be clean, so I might wander off and wash them if they’ve got bits of carpet stuck to them, but the more the merrier, frankly. Hoorah for gags.
‘What about nipple clamps?’
Oh, alright then. I’m happy with all different sorts, and I’m lucky that although my nipples are sensitive, they’re not so sensitive that I can’t endure nipple clamps for the course of a photoset or video. But please take them off carefully!
‘How about girl/girl work?’
Well, I’ll stand next to another girl. I like my fetish work to be a truthful depiction of my personal tastes so while I’m absolutely happy to model with other girls (love them, yes indeed) I’m not really the model to try sexual girl/girl work with.
‘And will you dom?’
Hmmm. Again, I like my fetish work to reflect my interest, so I primarily like to play submissive roles. But I’m learning to rig, and I love it (in a dress-designer kind of way). So if you’re looking for a model who can rig while doing domly sort of faces or saying domly kind of things, then absolutely, yes. If you’re hoping for a pro-domme who’ll inflict actual pain or verbal abuse then absolutely no. Unless you want it to be really, really lame. And I certainly, under no circumstances will dominate the photographer, studio owner, or makeup artist. That’d just be unconscionably rude.
‘How about sexually explicit work?’
I can’t speak for all other models of course, but my philosophy (which many other models in my acquaintance share) is this;- I’m entirely happy working nude, and I won’t spend the shoot freaking out about keeping my legs glued together at all times. But if your primary intention is to get explicit ‘open leg’ shots, I’m not the model for you. My favourite photographers are those who aren’t obsessive about featuring genitalia; work that makes the viewer use their imagination a bit is my preference
‘How much do you charge?’
Since as a customer, I like shopping in places where the price is clearly displayed, I like to be transparent regarding my own pricing structure, so that people booking me will be reassured that they can’t buy me cheaper if they search price comparison sites. My rates are £50 per hour, £300 per day (based on 7-8 hours) or £1000 per week. This includes travel within the Greater London area, and also includes a model release (which some producers use to keep a record of the identity of their model, and also as evidence that the shoot was conducted properly). I normally ask that travel further afield in the UK and worldwide is covered by the photographer, unless I’m already touring in their area.
‘I’m worried about booking a model on my own, what should I do instead?’
There are various group-shoots, workshops and tuition sessions run by photographers that can be a huge help to people starting out. The BDM runs regular photographic tutorials focussed on bondage photography, and there are plenty of other photographers worldwide who offer tuition. If you like bondage but photographing a model yourself seems scary, unappealing or too expensive, then why not jolly well join Restrained Elegance this month, where we’ve done all the work for you, and you can enjoy the finished product without having to fumble round with bloody F-Stops, flash triggers and slippery models covered in body lotion.
Amelia’s Sunday Spanking
I love being a model, but I’m not a natural producer. My new project, which I’m going to try to talk about now, has actually been available to download for a few weeks, and I’ve put off saying anything about it. Because, while I’m confident about telling you about films I’ve appeared in made by other producers, this one feels pretty personal and I’ve had all sorts of producer-related anxiety about whether we should just re-film it all over and over again until it’s a Hollywood Epic with crane shots and extras and tailored Roman Centurion costumes….
Well, it doesn’t have any of those things, and I’m going to tell you about it anyway.
The BDM (Boyfriend/Dom/Master, who owns the site I help him run) and I have always loved spanking. And while we do shoot a fair amount of CP-related action for Restrained Elegance, that’s not really the focus of the site. So last year when a friend of ours suggested that we maybe branch out into making feature-length productions as well as videos for Members of our site, it seemed like a brilliant opportunity to widen our fetish horizons a bit.
Which is why the BDM has launched Elegance Studios. We want to have a go at shooting fetish movies with the highest standards that a niche producers budget will allow. Have a look at the trailer for the first movie to see what I mean. My experience of the fetish film industry is that locations, camera work and editing are quite often a lower priority than the quality of the BDSM action, and while that’s totally understandable, we like the idea of aiming for something with the highest production values we can achieve without the BBC’s budget (though, naturally, if anyone would like to give us the BBC’s budget, we’ll try not to blow it all on catering).
So once the first movie was edited, we had a go at Amelia’s Sunday Spanking which is an idea we’d wanted to do for ages. I love the idea of formalised discipline sessions, and I also really liked the idea of shooting a whole spanking movie where all the punishments were on unmarked skin (which obviously isn’t possible if you shoot multiple scenes in a day, unless your model is made out of enamelled tin or similar). So for a month, we spent consecutive Sundays catching up with all the spankings I’d earned according to the punishment diary I was keeping.
The result is an hour-long domestic discipline movie, with loads of spanking, a number of rather brazen negotiation attempts, and an awful lot more strokes of a leather strap than I’d have agreed to if I’d had director’s control! I think it’s probably a one-off; future CP movies we produce are likely to be multi-location, more film-style productions with a less close-to-home storyline. But I’m really hoping that some of you might like it; it’s by far the most personal project I’ve been involved with, and while that felt a bit uncomfortable at times, I hope that the result justifies the rather difficult and painful month I spent involved in production. Which is now, blessedly, over; and I can concentrate on my work over the next few months. Which, OMG, includes no fewer than 7 full-day spanking shoots. Which has to be a record for me.
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Subtlety
I’ve been irritated for ages by my habit of not posting on my blog unless I have time to post an essay. This is hardly ever, so I’m having a go (and do bear with me if I fail) at posting shorter posts, more often.
This picture (for Restrained Elegance) is what I want to talk (briefly!) about today, because I really like it. The near-symmetry of the composition, the nudity in a formal-looking environment, and the fact that it’s not awfully clear what’s going on appeals to me (even though it’s a picture of me, which normally guarantees I won’t find it terribly sexy). As time goes on, I find myself less and less keen on images that give you everything on a plate (in particular, sexually explicit shots, although I’m certainly not telling you that you shouldn’t like them) and I find myself getting a great deal of pleasure from the subtler BDSM elements you can sometimes get a glimpse of in mainstream movies. I’ve been watching The Tudors and finding it fabulously hot in the clandestine way I used to, way before I knew about BDSM erotica. The king is allowed to have sex with anyone he chooses! When the ladies curtsey to him, they never seem to actually get up again! All the actresses look like Met-Art stars! (err, even when they’re meant to be 40+, but no matter).
Now, obviously nothing we shoot for Restrained Elegance can afford to be quite so elliptical as mainstream work when it comes to referencing BDSM, but I’m quite keen on the idea of a little subtlety, nevertheless.
Hope you’re all well, and thanks as ever for visiting.
A/a xx
Diversity
Over the last few weeks, I’ve been thinking a lot about the aesthetics of the spanking scene. So have some of my friends; Leia Ann Woods wrote a thoughtful post on her blog, which I commented on, and then realised I wanted to say more. So here goes.
When I started thinking about doing spanking work, I thought it would fulfil some long-held fantasies. I’d never had the chance to be spanked, and I thought it would be brilliant to experience CP in a safe environment, with an experienced top. I was worried I might be too old, too tall, not tough enough or not pretty enough to be accepted by any producers, but it turned out I was wrong. Since I was already working as a nude model, I was also very grateful to discover that spanking production companies were prepared to pay me well enough that I could afford to work with them and take time off afterwards for the bruises to heal.
Being paid to do something I’d always wanted to do was remarkable; liberating, sexy and very exciting. But the best thing about it was totally unexpected. At my first shoot, the absolute joy of being able to talk freely to other people who shared my fetish actually made me feel drunk. I couldn’t sleep after my first shoot – the feeling of finally connecting with the spanking world was incredible.
At my next shoot, I met other spanking models for the first time. I’d been very nervous about it – my fantasies didn’t involve other girls being spanked too and I was worried I wouldn’t enjoy myself. But I’d reckoned without the pleasure of being able to discuss being a submissive/bottom with other girls who shared my perspective. Again, it was such a high to find so much, effortlessly, in common with these girls. Although I’ve enjoyed the company of other models in my mainstream career, this felt different – we could talk about the stuff that felt really important immediately – I loved the feeling of intimacy.
As I did more and more shoots, this feeling of belonging to a community grew. I met girls who had proper jobs, and whose only modelling work was for CP productions. I met scene players who didn’t do any CP production work at all, but wrote extraordinary, intimate blogs about their lifestyles. I met men who offered their considerable skill at no cost to top for CP productions – just for the love of it. And when I was invited to play with some of these people, just for fun instead of for a movie, I realised I was actually becoming part of a real community, not just an industry.
And one of the things I love about this community of producers, bloggers, models, aficionados, anonymous commentators, fans, photographers and writers is the diversity of the fantasies they share. And the fact that this carries over into the way that the performers in CP movies can look.
If I look at an average catwalk show, I see models who are between 5ft8-5ft11 tall, and UK size 6-8. If they’re caucasian, they won’t be tanned, and they’ll rarely have breasts above a B cup. They’ll have long limbs and slim hips.
In an average glamour magazine I’d expect to see lots of girls with C/D cup breasts, even, symmetrical features, long, full hair and small waists. They won’t have any body hair, but they’ll have super-long eyelashes.
When I look at successful spanking models, I see diversity. Of course, there are lots of conventionally pretty girls in this industry too, but the rules of prettiness seem more fluid to me here. Our height can range from below 5ft to over 6ft. Size 6 is ok; so is size 16. You can be 18 years old, or you can be in your 50’s and still have people who love your work. You can be soft and vulnerable, you can be toned and ripped. Of course, different people will have different favourites, and no one model will suit everyone’s tastes. But I’m very happy to have found that in this industry, my looks are not the only thing that makes me bookable as a model – my fantasies, ideas and ability to take fairly hard CP are as important as my good skin or my toned abs.
So, thank you to all the people who help make this community/industry so inclusive. And well done to everyone (top and bottom, male and female) who has the courage to play their fantasies out on film. I’m sure I’m not alone in doing this despite having physical insecurities, rather than doing so because I have none.
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