My sophomore year in college, I decided to take a course that you can only take in college- History of Human Sexuality. Needless to say, this course was equally fraught with tension and an enlightening study.
One of the required readings was Story of O, a controversial piece of literature as those who have read it can understand. It is the story of a chic Parisian woman, O, transported to Chateau de Roissy where she is subjected/ subjects herself to her sadistic master, Sir Stephen. She derives pleasure from being bound, raped, and humiliated. Clothing and jewelry play an important role as a visual symbol of her sexual assaults. What begins in the first scene, when O is forced to strip, culminates with a branding and piercing marking her submission.
Lara Stone's Sado Masochist inspired harnesses and classic French Chateau setting draws inevitable parallels to the book. The art director choose to shoot Stone solo, which creates a voyeuristic dynamic between Stone and us, the viewer. In this way, we take on the role of Sir Stephen in this interpretation of The Story of O.
Ok, 1. It was not for Sir Stephen, she did it for her lover Rene, who later gives her to Sir Stephen. 2. It's not rape if the person is willing to participate. O participated because she loved Rene (and later Sir Stephen) but also because she took pleasure in the act of submitting, though at first she can't bring herself to believe that.
ReplyDeleteThe story of O has served as life model to at least one woman I know, someone I knew some time ago. She demanded to live in chains and would wear a stainless steel chastity belt under her clothes at all times. She was a living, walking, talking O, who would sport a wardrobe with matching bondage accoutrements every day, as suitable: leather collars, stainless steel ones, jewelry ones for festive occasions. These would be linked to her chastity belt via delicate yet quite functional chains, and quite visible. In her apartment, she had eyebolts and all manner of attachment points for her to be chained up to - it was her way of living, and to both of us very enjoyable. Since I enjoy casual bondage as well, it was a match made in heaven. When we were together, we would be joined by some sort of chains, we attached each other to all sorts of fixtures when we went out - the restaurants we frequented knew about us and didn't mnd after they realised we didn't mean trouble. When we were apart, each had the keys to the chastity belt and other locks of the other. The chains and all that went with that sort of life gave us security quite apart from any other sort of assurance that a relationship brings. We broke up not because of the bondage thing, but because she fell in love with someone else. I still have the drawings I made of her in her chains, as a fond memory. I sign this as Anonymous 2, because I don't want the actual person to find this and possibly be annoyed.
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A comment on your (Lara Stone's) photos: they look fabulous and add a very modern atmosphere to the old theme. If you (Lara) were to do another shoot on the story of O theme, one little added feature, though, that would bring a sort of immense believability to the scenes would be if you were chained somehow. Either to an object in view, or to something out of the frame. The chain should go either from your collar or the crotch eyelet on the corset you wear in shot 4. Or off a genital piercing, as O does in the book. That would truly bring an added dimension to your pictures, at least to my mind. Still, they are very good shots. Well done!
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