Brandi Bondage

Now, you may be asking yourself, why is Anna and Uncle M laughing over our brief explanation to the lady from whom we bought the vanity table?  Well, I guess if you’re not familiar with having to censor yourselves around the general public, it’s difficult to understand the humour of the situation that we encountered.  With people you don’t know, it is difficult to judge whether or not someone will be able to take the information that you are working for or are associated with a bondage site, however much clothed the models are or however little eroticism is invoked in the photographs.  In many cases, it is better to avoid talking about such a subject with people you don’t actually know, as it can be an uncomfortable subject for many people.  As much as we like what we do, and as much as we want to share it with the general public, sometimes it is simply inappropriate to push knowledge and information onto people who may not be familiar or comfortable with that knowledge or information.  Of course dresses and costumes and themed photo graphs aren’t exactly what we do at Brandibondage, but those bits of information are bits that both satisfied the curiosity of the lady we were buying the vanity table from, and prevented any “freaking out” or uncomfortable situation that may have occurred had Uncle M and I told her straight out that we were using the table for a bondage shoot.  With the conservative minds of many in the area where I live, it may even have been possible that she would have refused to sell us the vanity had we told her that we were shooting bondage photographs.  Some people just can’t get past their pre-existing views on a topic, and bondage tends to be one of those very touchy topics where pre-existing views are very prevalent.   

Similarly, I always have trouble when my bosses or my colleagues ask me what I did on the weekend.  It’s almost easier to tell them I merely hung out with friends, or relaxed, or went swimming, or some other weekend-like activity of relative normalcy, I suppose.  The one time that I did slip up and say that I was doing some modeling, my boss got rather curious and started to ask what kind of photography it was, when I was saved by the telephone ringing, and his absolutely forgetful memory that promptly forgot what he was about to ask.  From that day on, I’ve been very careful to never mention the word “modeling” around my boss, lest he remember the question.  Also, when I first switched from a job where I rarely saw anyone else to one where I was in the public eye all the time, I had to start hiding my face in the photographs in case anyone ever recognized me.  In all, it can become quite a hassle at times, being so careful about whether or not I am recognized outside of the photographs, and being so careful about what I say to others who are not privy to the website, but it’s actually become quite as routine as it is necessary.

xoxo Anna

So….Uncle M and I went to an apartment not too far away from my own to pick up a little treasure piece the other day – the treasure piece being a Victorian-era style vanity table with a nice little vanity mirror, keepsake drawer, and vanity stool.  Absolutely precious, especially for someone like me, who can’t keep away from anything that looks relatively period!  Anyways, enough swooning over period furniture and such, back to the story!  So we are at this lady’s house, pretty normal looking place, mind you, all nicely cleaned and primped with nice furniture and lights and the works.  We might not have looked it, but boy did Uncle M and I feel out of place there.  So the price was haggled, the table and stool paid for, and we are just packing everything up to leave when the lady asks what we might be using the table for, since I had very casually mentioned that we were going to be using it for a photography session when I called her about her ad on Craigslist to convince her to hold the table for us, as she was very wary of people who promise to come by and pick it up, and leave her hanging for weeks without payment or pick up.  Well, there’s me, feeling out of place and not really knowing what to say, going “um, errr, well, we’re doing this rather burlesque theme…” while looking helplessly at Uncle M for any input.  Thankfully, Uncle M, who seems always to be much more resourceful, cuts in.  

“Well, we’re doing this burlesque sort of theme for our little photography website, you see,” he starts “a very nice website it is.  We do all sorts of very glamourous photo shoots, with nice dresses and costumes and themes.”  

 The lady looks rather interested, and says “well, I’m always trying to get rid of something in this apartment, so if you are needing any other pieces, just let me know.”   

Uncle M asks “what other kinds of pieces?”   

The lady looks around her bedroom, and sees a rather rectangular and wrapped package in the corner “well, I have a mirror that is rather vintage looking, and a jewelry case”, pointing to a small brownish thing on the floor “and that magazine holder there, that all has to go.”   

Uncle M glances at the “mirror” that she had pointed to, and asks to see it.  We gingerly unwrap layers of tissue paper to find a plain dark brown mirror that severely needs polishing and dusting.  Uncle M and I look at each other.  Then Uncle M says to the lady “I think that all we need today is the table, thanks anyways…”  We quickly pack up the table and stool and head out the apartment, both trying to not laugh.  When we get to the elevator, and the elevator closes, both of us burst out laughing over the explanation that we had given to the lady about the Brandibondage website… 

To be continued…xoxo Anna

Anna discusses the use of props at a typical bondage shoot at Brandibondage.

Being a technical theatre major myself, it’s hard to not notice little bits of detail that dot and decorate each photograph in a bondage shoot.  Actually, perhaps the use of the word “decorate” is not giving enough credit to the usefulness and creativity that props offer, not just in theatre, but in photography.  Throughout my time modeling for Brandibondage, I’ve had the pleasure of dressing up and wearing so many different costumes for differently themed photographs, from office secretary to little girl to ballerina, but sometimes, it’s the tiny details like a specific painting on the wall behind the model’s head, or the large stuffed animal that really puts the theme forward.  After all, where would a shoot with a French maid all tied up be without that feather duster?  Would a scene from Deviant Dining seem complete without plates and utensils on the table?  If there was a photograph with a secretary bound, tied, and gagged, wouldn’t she look a bit out of place without a mess of papers on the desk, perhaps even with a computer or laptop where something she was working on still shines on the screen?  Props lend that slight bit of realism and believability to a photograph, and that is important in bondage, as it reminds the viewer that the models, bondage artists, photographer, and helpers involved in the shoot are indeed real people, and shortens the distance between those involved in the shoot and their *ahem* adoring fans.

 My favorite photo shoot of all time (well up to today, I suppose, as there will be many more photo shoots to come in the future that I will love, I’m sure) involving props was the little girl in pink pajamas hogtied on her very pink-clad bed, surrounded by her beloved stuffed animals.  This shoot was absolutely hilarious, especially with the stuffed animals, all ranging in size from the small beanie baby types to the larger stuffed sheep that ended up acting more as a pillow.  The involvement of these props definitely made for situations and opportunities that no one involved in the shoot, not even I, the owner of these said stuffed-animals-turned-props, could have foreseen or predicted.  If I remember correctly, there were between six to ten different stuffed animals on the bed during that photo shoot, including a teddy bear, a stuffed sheep, a couple of pigs, some skunks, a large dog, and even a moose.  During one part of that particular shoot, the stuffed animals were arranged so that it looked as if the little girl was being held down by her darling stuffed animals.  Interesting reference of sorts to Gulliver’s Adventures in the miniature world, anyone?  I must say, even I wanted to snuggle myself when I saw the photos that were taken at that shoot - I looked so comfortable!  Of course, without the stuffed sheep being present, the little girl wouldn’t have had the opportunity to pull the sheep toward her head with her teeth (which, thankfully, wasn’t tied) and rest her weary little head on the sheep’s plump belly.  Mmm…time for a nap, little girl!

xoxo Anna

Brandibondage has grown to the point where we feel comfortable in offering a members area where our bondage art, along with video clips and other goodies can be viewed.  At the very start of this little venture, we all realised that it would take us up to a year to build up a decent sized gallery which would then enable us to move towards a spiffy members area.

Well we are there and ahead of schedule actually.  Our webmonster and his pal code monkey are very busy building us a shiny new addition to Brandibondage.  Brandi, Tea, several of our models and of course yours truly, Uncle M are working hard at our end creating and producing some damn fine work for your viewing pleasure.  In August alone we have three seperate shoots planned with more in the works.

 As a bit of a preview I am posting a link to our proposed new gallery.  This page still needs some work which we are well aware of (text for example) but you get the idea where we are going.  All of our photo sets will be available to view in the members area.  To date we have collected well over 1600 high resolution photos of Brandi and friends in tight exotic bondage.  Yummmm.

The aim is to launch the members area the first week of August.  Stay tuned!

 Brandibondage Gallery     Enjoy!

First off, thanks to the webmonster for all of his wonderful work on the website.

Second, thanks to Uncle M for implementing the changes.

One of the reasons we originally veered away from black as it didn’t appear very feminine and we wanted to establish that this website is female friendly. Thus the teal and the purple. My business cards are white with purple writing. (Hey, I enjoy being a girly girl sometimes).  Yet as people have been giving advice for website design and they have been telling Uncle M, they’ve also been coming to me. And a friend gave some sage advice: black is like sex. It sells.

Here’s Why I Like Black

- every thing goes with black: lipstick, shoes, jewelry, cars
- black absorbs everything
- I’m obsessed with black holes (and keep wishing I could throw my exes into one)
- black is the color of night
- rope looks so much better on a black background

And as we are making changes, I would like everyone’s feedback/advice. Please email me at brandi@brandibondage.com and let me know what you think!

xoxo
Brandi

Feedback over the months from friends and fans regarding the look of our little Brandibondage web site was at best lukewarm.  The comments had nothing what so ever to do with the actual content, but more the look and feel of the site.  Amateurish was a word bandied about.

Of course being the self centered egomaniac that I am, (I know, I know..a defect of character I’m working ever so hard on to correct. ) I would huff and puff and point to the sophistication of the programing and software that is so skillfully employed in keeping the site up and running.  This is akin to selling my wife on the engineering of a particular automobile over another when all she really cares about is the colour and how much gas is in the tank.  *sigh*

One of my main goals was and always will be to have a female friendly web site to promote our bondage art.  I wanted to stay as far away from looking like just another porn site as I possibly could.  The result was in the words of one of our models, “poophy looking”  An image of a baby blue toy poodle with pink ribbons tied around the ears and matching diamond studded collar jumped to my mind when I heard those words. *shudder*

Two talented artists answered my cry for help, Knottynymph and Seniortwinkie for a new banner.  Both are excellent and both almost identical in their design.  Great minds as they say.  We have picked the art of Knottynymph to grace our pages (ladies first as they say) and Seniortwinkie in the bull pen to be called upon in the future.  I thank you both and your autographed prints are in the works.

More changes to Brandibondage are in the works at this very moment in time.  More on this later.    Still female friendly?