Jerome Duplessis
by Cary
for the website Fixe Magazine
What inspired you to pick up a camera ?
I was used to watch lot of movies in my childhood and some of them really impressed me, we all have some pictures in mind, I remember my feeling discovering Miss Liberty in the “Planet of the Apes” movie with Charlton Eston or Jessica Lange trapped in “King Kong” … so, my taste for photography is born watching TV and I got my first camera in 1986 or 1987. I spent several years taking pictures of landscapes or lovely cats before to try portrait photography with the girl I loved. I did lot of pictures of she but I stopped shooting because I didn’t have enough money as a student. I came back to my passion and need of photography in 2000, mainly because of the digital cameras giving lot of possibilities for a reasonable cost. I wanted to mix my taste for picture and my love for bondage and domination : that’s the reason why I brought my eye back behind the camera.
What particular challenges do you face with erotic photography as opposed to other genres ?
Several challenges in one style : first, you have to be creative using a similar shooting configuration … I work in my small house in the suburbs in Paris and even if I have some options, you don’t have the same possibilities than working outdoor or in a beautiful place. Bondage photography isn’t easy to shoot because you need to think about your model’s health, the time you need to tie and the technical aspect. If I had more time, I would spend more time seeking apartments or locations to shoot but I am very busy with the post-production (image editing, promotion, webmaster stuff).
Second, you have to challenge the human nature : the girl you shoot is kind enough to trust you, the responsibility is high and you have to think about taking nice pictures and respect her limits. You also need to make her discover the things she doesn’t know and the psychological aspect is very important : you must be mentor, tempter and guardian. Of course, you must have a total control of yourself to keep your mind sharp and clear : the relation between the photographer and the model isn’t complicated for fetish photography but the relationship is a little bit different between the rope artist and the bound woman. It means you have to be strong but without being distant or the girl can think she’s nothing more than a toy. We must keep the human side in the middle of everything to keep the right spirit : the restraint of rope bondage is strict but I try to keep my model free in her mind with some funny words … I love to create and share a positive atmosphere. Lot of details are very important to work nice and having fun in the same time !
Third challenge, the time is passing fast, really fast : fetish shooting requires a long dressing time, especially with latex clothes. You need to help the model, polish the rubber to make it shiny … people don’t realize one hour is sometimes needed. When I shoot bondage, the time needed to make the ties is long too, you have to take care about the girl and progress in your ropework, taking pictures when you can and always think about the limit of your model. As the guardian, you have to know when she needs to be untied before herself … so, your mind is focused on the girl, the camera, the light, the details : it’s sometimes a little bit exhausting but also very interesting because the challenge is real.
Do you prefer to shoot with film or digital ?
As I said, I started with film but I always considered digital like the real future of photography. I don’t like expensive hobbies and shooting with film wasn’t easy. I use digital cameras for 10 years now and it helped me to increase my skills … moreover, I wanted to publish my pictures on the internet and digital was the best way to do it. For the little story, I used both cameras for my first fetish photo session : the film camera made some great shots but I didn’t want to spend hours scanning and cleaning pictures. So, the digital camera won the war after the first battle. I know lot of photographers who were skeptical about DSLR in the beginning, most of them use digital cameras now. It’s like for phone, you had a better sound with wire but you could do more things with a wireless phone … the time passed and wireless phones are everywhere, proposing a sound quality equal to the original. We can observe the same phenomena with photo stuff.
How did you become interested in fetish / BDSM ?
I spoke about some movies previously … this is clear than some scenes of power exchange or damsel in distress excited my young mind and came back later. I started to explore my taste for fetish fantasies when I became a teenager : no need to search any reason, that was already inside me. Sexuality isn’t easy sometimes and the psychology of domination / submission is complicated … sounds like a mystery I still explore.
Do you enjoy fetishism / BDSM play in your personal life, and if so what are you into ?
I do enjoy these games in my personal life … if I play the “master” in front of the camera sometimes, my models know I don’t consider myself like a “master”. I can be dominant but I could also being bound or even more in private life with one woman deserving to be considered like a goddess. I am not easy to seduce but it’s possible if you want to play as a dom or as a sub … the both sides are very interested to explore for different reasons. I am really interested by the psychological aspect and the answers to some questions : in my photography, I can’t get any answer to those questions. So, I need to play in my personal life.
Do you think pinup and fetish are becoming part of the mainstream culture ?
Oh yes … the fetish isn’t underground like the period I launched my website. You can see girls in latex and bondage art everywhere on the internet. Pin-up is the new fashion style, mixed to body modifications, the culture is changing slowly but surely … I am not a specialist about the question but I can say there are lot of people showing and sharing their taste for fetish and pin-up culture on their facebook profiles. I appreciate that change because you can say “I like bondage” or “I like latex clothes” without being considered like a pervert … the club of perverts welcomed lot of new members around the world within the last years.
Are there any other creative mediums you work in ?
I made my first website in 1996 : for me, that was natural, the next step after the computer revolution in the 80’s and the virtual communication mode created in France under the name “minitel” which was like a small and local internet with text exchange only. I would like to make a book one day, but something cool, not only a book to say “oh, you see, my name is there” : I don’t care about it.
I would like to work on something around the cartoon and/or manga style : I can bring a nice universe and several good ideas for a drawing artist interested about the project but I didn’t meet the right people for now. It requires talent and time, it’s not easy but I am sure lot of people loving my photography would like to explore new stories through the hand of another artist.
What kind of music do you like ?
I like lot of music styles … I need songs able to change my mood. That’s all I ask but I know my models doesn’t like my playlists, a matter of generation maybe !
What do you like to do for fun ?
I am a workaholic … I need to spend lot of time to please my models, members, visitors and people loving my work. So, I don’t have lot of activities but I still like to spend a nice time with friends chatting … I am a complicated man by nature, building complex ropework for pleasure but I love simple things for everyday life.