The Reflective Desire site has a section called Influences which is basically a collection of found images that have caught your eye. One can see why they would do that, but I was hoping to find more info there about photographers etc that have inspired you.
RD: Ah laziness… I started with the intention of trying to caption and credit every single image I encountered. I rarely upload something to that Tumblr, and it’s quite difficult to track down every image, so I gave up except in obvious instances like a few classic Steve Diet Goedde images.
So, aside from Steve, which photographers, publications, websites and so on have most influenced you down the years?
RD: I’m a product of the internet in that I don’t remember a huge number of specific sources. I’ve also almost certainly seen a lot of things I liked and had no idea where they came from.
That said, some standouts are: Mr Blowup, Serious Bondage, Latentia Desideria, Christopher (Fetish Leathercrafter), Fetish Kitsch, House of Gord, A Thing for Rubber, L-A-Tex and Insex.
In terms of photography, are you inspired by anyone outside fetish — say in high fashion?
RD: This is even more scattered, I’m a bit of a culture vacuum in that regard. I’ve seen a ton of photos but I don’t follow the work of any particular photographers.
Are you influenced by any of the great vintage cartoonists, eg Stanton and John Willie? How about AtomAge magazine, Marquis or Skin Two?
RD: It’s very humbling when looking at old work. Everything is a remix even if you don’t know it. AtomAge definitely stands out.
Which current photographers do you think are doing important work in the depiction of latex, heavy rubber and bondage?
RD: Christopher (Fetish Leathercrafter) is doing absolutely amazing work and is a one of a kind crafter. Nikitzo (Fetish Chimera) is a just amazingly talented both from a creative and technical perspective. I also love what Soul Focus is doing.
You have your own côterie of models but would you also fancy working with any of the better-known models in the US or European scenes?
RD: Thus far I’ve been more interested in working with people who are new to modelling and are just fetish enthusiasts. There are so many interesting people.
I’ll be in London this October and in Berlin, Amsterdam and London next April. If anyone is interested in working with me and Vespa they should reach out.
‘I like a sense of humour in things. A lot of times when shooting there is an awareness that what we do is pretty weird, and sometimes pretty funny’
How exactly would you define the kind of content you like to create? And what qualities of an image represent the perfect outcome from one of your own shoots?
RD: I usually start with about five or six ideas for a shoot, and end up executing two or three of them. Our tagline I think sums it up pretty well: Latex & Bondage, mostly classy, sometimes filthy.
I also like a sense of humour in things. A lot of times when shooting, people get a little hot and bothered or are loving the way they are looking, but there is an awareness that what we do is pretty weird, and sometimes pretty funny.
When it comes to photographic technique, you have a great understanding of how to light latex. How did that skill develop, and what do you reckon you get right about it that others don’t always?
RD: Fetish photography is basically the only kind of photography I do seriously.
I’ve shot in one way or another casually for about 25 years, but I’d never shot with any kind of strobe [flash unit] until 2015. I’m happy people like my work so much, but I actually feel like quite a novice in particular with studio work.
My work, if dissected, is quite frankly not technically very good. It’s authentic, in that everyone involved is quite kinky and passionate about what’s being made, and I hope that comes through in the work.
But compared to professionals who have lighting skills, I’ve got a long way to go. That said, I am hoping to get more technically proficient.
In some cases I might light the entire room but not the model directly. Another tip I learned from Peter Pick at Fantastic Rubber was, after some lube has been applied, to wipe down the latex with a wet microfibre cloth.
You have quite a wardrobe of (mostly) latex outfits, and Reflective Desire carries a list of the sources of much of the clothing we see on the site. From a content creation point of view, what qualities do you look for in an outfit/accessory?
RD: I’d actually say we have been too focused on catsuits. Fantastic Rubber really is fantastic and I love the classic look of their catsuits and corsets.
That said, I’m finally starting to add some accessories on top of that —jackets, skirts, etc. I think generally I like some kind of intersection of heavy rubber and fashion. The less skin the better!
‘A revelation for me was to think of the rubber as a mirror. When photographing it you should focus 100 percent on what will be reflected in it’
What is it about your chosen outfit suppliers that appeals to you about their products?
RD: Fantastic Rubber makes the best catsuits in the world right now, without question. I’m enjoying the stuff I’ve gotten from Libidex in terms of basic accessorisation.
I love Gumique’s hoods and the fact that you can customise them. I haven’t quite gone crazy with the different designs but there are a ton of possibilities.
We have some big furniture items (and a very, very, very cool one on order) from Metalbound. He made us an amazing bed that is extremely kink-friendly but would not raise too many hackles on our parents when they visited.
It doesn’t show up in many photos, but we have a lambskin hood from Restricted Senses that is hands down my favorite kink item.
If I could only have one kink item, it would be that one. So comfortable and extremely sleek.
It’s fantastic that you make all this high quality large-size imagery available for free on the site, not to mention the often rather naughtier GIFs! But can you envisage a time when you might want to add a commercial element to the site?
RD: The photos will always be free but I’ve been very seriously toying with the idea of doing paid videos.
It’s quite a headache to get that going and I’m very worried about it changing the relationship with my collaborators.
On the other hand it would be great to at least break even on our project. I’m very torn about it, but I suspect we won’t go commercial simply due to inertia.
I’m very committed to keeping all of the photos in the public domain. I don’t like watermarks and everyone reposts everything without attribution anyway.
Instead of sending lots of nasty messages I would rather just own that copyright is basically dead for still images, and close to dead for moving images.
Finally, are there any other kinds of expansion of the current operation you might be interested in pursuing at some point in the future?
RD: All porn will probably be CG in 10 years so we’ve got to hurry up and make some good stuff before the computers are making it all.
I’d love to do live streams of our photo shoots or some kind of live interactive thing, but it’s so easy to leak the identities of people in real time, so I don’t think we can do that.
We’ve done a scene at the Seattle Erotic Arts Festival where the participants can grope a strapped-down Vespa. People really went wild over that, and I’d love to figure out other kinds of interactive perform- ances like that.
I’m also hoping to work with more enthusiasts in our travels over the next year. I’d also like to delve a little bit more into the bondage-y, extreme predicament-type situations.
We may someday do a small book if I can get the quality of the studio work higher. Above all we’ll try and keep it shiny!
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I’ve been shooting mostly with a Canon 6D though I just picked up a 5D mark IV and a C100, which I’m very excited about in terms of upping my ability to shoot in low light and produce videos without having to manage focus pulling.
I also just picked up a Ronin gimbal which I’m really excited about as I like moving the camera a lot.
On the lighting side I try to shoot with natural light or whatever room lighting I can to start with. I sometimes augment that with some Yongnuo YN360 battery powered LED lights I have.
When doing complex things there are times when a position or situation can only be held for a short time, so there are a lot of compromises that are made from a technical standpoint.
When I’m doing studio work I have a set of Paul C Buff Einstein lights with strip box diffusers. I end up shooting with those about 25 percent of the time and end up regretting taking them out half of the time.
Our house doesn’t have enough working room for it to be a great studio; I’d really like to get studio space someday.
The biggest piece of advice I could offer for photographers is to focus on getting the right glass. The bodies lose value, but good glass won’t.
I buy only used Canon L lenses. They are expensive but in some cases I’ve sold them for exactly what I paid after years of use. My go-to lenses are the 24L, 35L and 85L. The 24-105 and 16-35 definitely get some use but I like shooting wide for both low light and low depth of field.
Tags: BDSM play, Clothing, Corsets, Fetish Video, Heavy Rubber, Latex, Leather