No, not that Azreal, I’m thinking more Kevin Smith’s revisionist variety: Inspiration. I want to work on something and I really can’t find anything that’s speaking to me. I’ve got a huge folder of ‘To Do’ images and in the past I’ve just made myself crank something out. The problem is that, usually, the resulting manip sucks; big time.
So I find myself in the dilemma of really wanting to write a post but having nothing to write about; wanting to work on a pic but having nothing finished to show you. So, as John Lennon once did, I’m going to take my lack of inspiration and try to use that as a backdoor to creating something. Bear in mind, its not going to be nearly as fun to listen to and in all likelihood will not include one of the greatest guitar solos ever played on a Fender Stratocaster…but the effort will be equally as sincere.
Today, I thought I’d give you a peak behind the curtain at my process; what goes in on my mind as I look at a pic and the (often slow) development of an idea to a finished manip. Ready?
The pic linked above is one of hundreds (maybe thousands) of images I’ve saved on a whim. Often I see something and I know exactly what it could be; other times I just have a sense that there’s a workable idea somewhere and save it in case inspiration strikes. Here, I found the image to be quite striking and dramatic; erotic but not overtly explicit. I love black-and-white photography and so, for me, this pic already has a special quality owing to that. But there’s more here and the longer I look, the more I see.
The first thing that strikes me is her shoes. Now, I must admit, I do have a bit of a fetish for heels and what I like about her’s is that they are just on the edge of sexy without screaming “stripper.” Similarly, her outfit isn’t outrageous, in fact its maybe even a little conservative (or would be if more of the buttons were affixed) and then there’s the fact that she’s nude under her garment. Perhaps this is a game she plays to excite herself; going out in public wearing some sexy-heels-and-nothing under a loose-fitting outfit that shows off her legs. But why is she playing this game and who has inspired (or directed) her to do so?
Therein lies what piques my interest in this pic and also the beginnings of a story forming somewhere: she doesn’t look like someone’s toy, but maybe she’s on her way to becoming one.
Her pose is very useful as well. With a little caption work I can have her clawing at her outfit, desperate to touch herself but held back by some hypnotic compulsion. And speaking of her outfit; I think one of the qualities I find most attractive here is the fact that she’s not wearing some outrageously kinky harness or lingerie (not that I mind that sort of thing), but just regular street clothes. The juxtaposition of an otherwise reserved woman who is being controlled and manipulated through her own sexuality is somehow more kinky than if she were already a sexual dynamo. Her attire creates a certain expectation and her behavior plays against that expectation to (hopefully) delicious ends.
So with all that worked out, I now turn to the setting of the photo. The furniture, the hardwood floor, the vintage radiator all suggest a contemporary loft apartment or office. Her therapist’s office perhaps. The therapist who is helping her relax and come to terms with the deep need she feels to submit to an authoritative woman. The therapist who graciously offered to use hypnosis to help our protagonist accept and integrate the irresistible urges she gets to express her libido through the increasingly more kinky games she plays with herself. The therapist who can be trusted with all her most intimate secrets. The therapist who must be shown what a naughty girl her patient has been…
Now I just have to figure out what to do with that fan.
I hope you enjoyed this little behind-the-scenes peak. It was certainly an interesting experience to document a series of events that usually takes place in my noggin and, oddly enough, I do feel pretty inspired.