Warning: Mature Content and Links to Mature Websites



This is a series of interviews with some of Deviant Art's Fetish and Glamour community. The interviews will be with both photographers and models so that we can gain a better understanding into the world of these wonderful genres from both sides of the lens.

Featured Artist: =Lochai

Congratulations on winning our first ever ‘Fetish’ contest,
( A Taste of Fetish ) on the site. Flown... is a beautiful image. Tell us about that shoot and the lovely model involved.



Thank you. I must also thank you for hosting this contest. My model is a good friend of mine named Jolie Vaughn (~DGjolie on DA) She & I have known each other for about three years & have never had the chance to shoot before. Well she showed up at my studio/condo & the first thing she saw was the suspension rig I have mounted in my ceiling. I told her she could fly if she wanted to & she just smiled. Now when we met years ago I was the first person to have ever tied her up & we did a very comfortable rope suspension out at the club I was performing at. To say she loved the feeling would be an understatement. We started off doing some basic headshots, getting ready & “fashion” shots just so she can get used to my shooting style & I can evaluate how well she captures. We then started to do some rope & I was moving back & fourth from shooting to tying as we moved along. Since rope suspension is a very dangerous activity I needed to pay attention to everything involved. The lighting, the camera settings as well as the comfort & safety of Jolie. I try & work only with people in the fetish/rope scene for this reason. Communication is the most important aspect of any type of bondage & if I were working with a model that was not experienced with it I would need other people on the set to keep an eye out for problems. As the scene/shoot progressed Jolie went into something we call headspace, she was part of the ropes that bound her & she was “set free” in her restraint. She was flying in more ways then one. We closed the day with images for my Occupied series which you can see in my book.

You got into pinhole photography as a kid, is that something that still interests you when time allows? If so, can we see any of these shots anywhere online?

I am still very much interested in it but have only experimented with it lately. Sorry but at the moment I have not posted anything on line. Maybe I will clean some up & post them to DA…

That would be great, I'd love see them. What are your preferred cameras these days?

Canon… Hard to beat their glass….

What kind of lighting set up do you use indoors?

I use Novatron strobes; mainly I use one main softbox with bounce fill for a more dramatic scene or a “standard” setup for more traditional portraits. I also love to shoot with existing ambient light with a high ISO & a wide-open lens. Another reason I love Canon, great detail in the 800 ISO range & I even push up to 1600-3200 at times.

Your photos heavily feature Japanese rope bondage that obviously plays a large part in your life. Did you study this art form under anyone in particular? Do you still enjoy it now as much as when you first got into it?



Japanese rope bondage has been a huge draw to me for many years. I started to study kinbaku (rope art) and shibari (to tie) about 10 years ago under Midori. She is one of the best-known & respected rope artists in the world as well as one of the most knowledgeable alternative sexuality educators today. Today I am one of the original instructors at Shibaricon , the international Japanese bondage conference. I have been teaching my art for the last 6 years across the country but still consider myself the eternal student. I take every class I can attend & learn more from each person I tie. Side note; The Japanese terms used in this art may be Japanese words but are not used in Japan. In Japan, they use “Bondage”

I actually enjoy it more now that I have matured in my style. It has more meaning for me now to bind someone & see his or her reactions to what I am doing.

Latex and heels also feature quite a bit in your artwork, what are some of your other passions?



Natural emotions, corsets, self-appreciation are just a few. If my models are wearing something that makes them feel sexy, that is a turn on for me. Masks… can’t forget masks…. Especially gas masks.



I particularly love your shots featuring models in ‘real’ surroundings as opposed to the studio, how much planning goes into your shoots and how many of them are real scenes?



Just about everything I shoot is real. I have been in the bdsm/fetish scene for many years & so I have the opportunity to meet real people & access to fetish equipment. Real life happens in real spaces, this is what I prefer to capture.



You use a great variety of models, are they usually friends or do you ‘hire’ them via agencies?

Luckily I do not have a need to use agencies. From my experience within the fetish world I have models coming to me based on my style. Most of my models were friends before we started shooting & all of them are friends afterwards…

Do you direct your models much, or do you prefer them to ‘be themselves’ in their circumstance?

This is where the “natural” come in. I let them be themselves & try to capture who “they” are. I may ask for them to stop in a turn of their head for a shot but I try not to pose them. The pose just doesn’t work for me in the fetish world. I do ask for specific actions but I try to wait for the moment instead of setting it up. I am able to do this because I shoot for myself most of the time. If I am commissioned for a shoot then I may need to pose & direct to capture what my client wants/needs.

You’ve just published your first book ‘Occupied... fetish images for private viewing”, which is very exciting and a dream for many photographers on this site! How long did that process take from initial idea to final printing?



Wow…. 30 years or so… Ever since I picked up my first camera I wanted to publish a book. I have been published in other people’s books & in numerous magazines but all I did was contribute images that fit what they needed. This was/is a dream come true. A lot harder than I ever imagined. I started my “occupied” series the day I picked up my camera again 2 years ago. I had put it aside for a while and then picked it up on a whim. I was assisting a good friend of mine Valerie (*vplacephoto on DA) with a shoot & just had to capture her model getting ready. This image put me on track for the book & got me motivated.



Once I knew what I wanted to see for myself, I made sure that every shoot I did with a model, I did something I could use in my book. My website Kirinawa, became a place to hash out what I created & get feedback from visitors. I used it as a place to review what I had shot. I used to look at the galleries daily & see if I still liked what I saw. I had over 600 “publishable” images to choose from & every shoot I did just added more. My girlfriend Janice one day told me to just do it. Stop shooting & just create with what you have. So I did. I started to gather my favorites together & lay the book out. Of course during the 4 weeks of layout I did another shoot or two & snuck in an image here & there but that was not my original plan. I then went back to my old shoots & picked out images that I overlooked before. I would say from start to finish… 2 years. I am now working on individual model books which will be a lot easier as well as my other projects on my website. I have also started working on Occupied II… You can purchase either a signed or unsigned copy of my book @ Occupied

What is the theme of the book and what inspired it?

Occupied… fetish images for private viewing I am hoping that the name itself give the viewers the double meaning I intended… many photographers put out coffee table books, I decided to put out a bathroom book. Every person I know does some sort of reading in the bathroom, looking thru catalogues; laughing at joke books, reading the labels on medication & of course one-handed reading of well-thumbed “art” magazines. Well I wanted to create a “book of the room” in & of one location. Occupied is broken into three sections; Getting ready, which are impromptu behind the scene shots taken as my models prepare for our shoot. Knock First, which displays alternative things to do in the bathroom or just different ways to do them & the third section is Occupied, this deals with the toilet. Not urination shots or any degrading aspects of toilet use but just my models using the “seat” as their posing stool. Thru out this edition are examples of my kinbaku art, not the main focus as many people expected from me as I am known for my bondage images, but sampled as they happened in the bathroom.

What inspired this project was the image faucet I mentioned earlier. I have always been fascinated with bathrooms & the many uses & activities associated with them. I think this came about because while growing up the bathroom door was never really ever closed in my home. Well when I shot the first images I called the series “bathroom fixtures” and made the references to the faucet, soap dish, rinse & drain. Not to take away from the beautiful woman using these items but I wanted to put a twist on the sexuality of the bathtub. Since then I have made sure to ask each of my models if they would like to be a part of this series, most say yes after seeing the beauty of the images I produced before them.



You’re involved in an art show which will be on the road for a year, what is involved in this and where will it be going?

The Traveling Erotic Art Show is a dream come true for me. It is a group show of 10 internationally known erotic artists making the US trek. Ever since I can remember, I have been influenced by those who have come before me. Many of those I am doing this show with have been either my inspiration or influence. Both in the rope bondage world and in the photography world. Some have been personal friends for years such as Barbara Nitke, Steven Speliotis & Midori. The others have just been a great influence; Dave Naz , Charles Gatewood, James Mogul, Tina Butcher aka Madison Young, Julie Simone, Chas Ray Krider & Steve Diet Goedde (~stevedietgoedde). Each one of these people has had an influence in the way I produce my art.

The way the show came about was at another opening I had in NY @ the Chyrstie Street gallery. This beautiful young woman came in during the first hour of the opening & took her time viewing every image on display & eventually approached me & introduced herself as Madison Young. I had wanted to work with Madison for a number of years & here she was standing in front of me asking if she could pose for me… Well we got to talking about the shooting we were going to do the next day & talk turned to erotic fine art shows. It ends up that Madison runs a gallery in San Francisco, Femina Potens. I suggested we do a traveling show from NY to SF & well… here we are!

We started in SF at the Center for Sex & Culture & have had a great turnout so far in the first 3 openings on the West Coast & after the opening in Seattle on Feb. 2nd we head out to NYC. From there we are in negations with galleries in Chicago & Miami. If anyone would like to host our show, please contact me or Madison through our site.

And finally, do you have any tips for up and coming fetish photographers?

Shoot for yourself… Shoot what makes you feel good & makes your models feel sexy. Look at everyone’s work that you admire & try to figure out what make that image work for you & try it yourself. I try & work only with people who have an emotional attachment with fetish, this way I get natural responses & looks. Know how to use your equipment; too often I see a great idea poorly executed.






Interview by ^serpentinekiss
Fetish & Glamour Portraits Gallery Director
Artist Relations Department