For my set design I took inspiration from the pin-up era, where the majority of photos were taken in a living room setting. More than this I thought about materials to include, for example velvet and fur, as these are associated with seduction and the burlesque side of pin-up.
When looking at poses I began by researching pin-up girls, particularly the paintings of Gil Elvgren and Art Frahm. The women in these paintings have an ‘accidental’ eroticism to them, which was very in keeping with the ideas of the innocent and passive housewife. In the example above the woman is positioned to expose her stockings and legs, but is unaware of this, therefore keeping her innocence. In many of his other paintings the reveal comes from a predicament, for example the skirt being trapped in a door, again keeping the woman’s innocence while the viewer ogles her.
The same concept applies to the real-life pin-ups, from the mainstream, the famous actresses, to the fetishistic photographs of the now renowned Bettie Page. A common theme within the work of fetish photographers such as Irving Klaw was the ‘cat fight’, women wrestling on the ground. Though they are fighting, there’s an underlying eroticism, often pulling one another’s clothes off as well as pulling hair, and it’s a show for the male viewer.
Ellen Von Unwerth has taken the theme of submission and domination for ‘The Story of Olga’. With playfulness her photos tell a narrative of fantasy, lavish parties, and debauchery.
When looking at themes of submission I decided to study Allen Jones’ ‘furniture’ series. Controversial even at the time, he turned mannequin-esque figures into parts of furniture. From this point I considered including an element of the human furniture fetish within my photographs.
For the styling element of my project I researched fetish wear from a range of time periods, starting with John Willie’s ‘Bizarre’, a collection of magazines of the 1940’s & 50’s. His illustrations tend to focus on costumes and roles, for example the dominant teacher and the submissive student, as shown above. Themes of punishment and domination run throughout his work, however the sexuality of the scenes is not overt, and it lies in the clothing and situations. His photography, including work of renowned pin-up model Bettie Page, focuses on fantasies of the dominant and submissive woman. Both are consistently portrayed in uncomfortably high heeled shoes and boots, opera gloves, stockings, tight skirts (of all lengths), and lingerie. Leather was the material of choice for all these garments, specifically kid leather, as it is restrictive but thinner than traditional leather.
John Sutcliffe’s AtomAge magazine (running between 1965 and 1980) began as a showcase for the waterproof bodysuits he had created for women motorcycle riders, with a focus more on PVC and rubber than leather, eventually moving to latex, after discovering a technique to bond pieces together. His silhouettes tended to be bodysuits with high boots or full catsuits, both popular at the time in mainstream wear. Some of his later designs featured hoods and masks, bordering on a modern gimp suit. Many of the suits contained cut-outs, belts, and very structured elements, tailoring to the female body.
I also looked at modern photographers who use these materials, for example Latex Lucifer, who photographs latex with hard flash to create shine and texture, and Nedda Afsari, who photographs her friends wearing bondage wear, playing with the textures and visuals that create a story. Both these photographs also introduce colour into their materials, something not done in the older examples.
Seren Lomax Reflective Journal 