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.
