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pop-up gallery slide show. It's a classic formula: beauty and the beast, enticement and peril, bondage and bad-asses. It's like a 1950s men's magazine updated for the digital era and gone lust-mad with artsy abandon. Josef Botello goes at this subject with fresh gusto, with zest and originality -- and from the first page, I ate it up with a spoon. These gorgeous dames are agents provocateur like you wouldn't believe, and I challenge you to thumb through this book without drooling. Since shooting the images in this magnificent book, Botello has expanded his repertoire to include more color images and other fetish themes -- but everywhere he points his camera, he finds images that incite intense reactions. His fascination is for the provocative, the edgy, and the dangerous. Botello took a few minutes out of his busy schedule of field-stripping his M-16 and hand-loading hollowpoints to chat with Eros Zine about his work, his background and the eroticism of women with weapons.
Josef Botello: I live in the Dallas/Fort Worth area now, but I'm from a small shithole just outside the metroplex. Eros Zine: Those of us (like me) from California often have this stereotype that Texans are obsessed with guns. At the risk of feeding that stereotype....do you think growing up in that area gave you a particular perspective on guns as dangerous or commonplace? Objectionable or attractive? Josef Botello: I love guns -- I always have. As an adult, I see them as dangerous in the wrong hands, but I definitely grew up viewing them as commonplace and attractive. My early affection for firearms was probably a result of watching G.I. Joe cartoons and The A-Team, but living in Texas may have had something to do with it as well. Eros Zine: The introduction to Girls, Guns and Ropes is written by your first photography teacher, Gary Bishop. He writes eloquently about the reaction of the class when you shared some of your first erotic images with them. Did those reactions spur you on? Was the reaction surprising to you? Josef Botello: Honestly, I didn't really care what the other students thought about my images. Most of them came across as closed-minded conservatives, so their negative reactions didn't surprise me at all. I was fairly sure that none of them had any experience with these kinds of photos or this subject matter in general, so I didn't think their opinions would be useful in my development as a photographer. At some point, I actually stopped showing my work to everyone in the classroom and just gave my professor a peek at the end of class to hear his feedback. Eros Zine: Well, even in the fetish world, your images are pretty edgy because they mingle eroticism and firepower. I like what you say in the epilogue -- "My objective is to use this approach to create the illusion of a story happening within a still photograph....a sense of mystery is created....if my art has a purpose beyond eroticism, it's to evoke those interpretations and explore the limits of the people who form them." By showing armed women in erotic poses, what boundaries are you breaking down? I almost hate to say it because it seems so ambitious, but is there a feminist message there -- that powerful, dangerous women are erotic? Or even maybe a peaceful message -- the implied violence of guns can be subverted by sexuality? Josef Botello: The message is definitely that powerful women are erotic, and I would think at least some feminists would approve of that, but I don't know. And I'm not sure if I really care that much about breaking down boundaries, but I guess if my work can push the envelope a little bit, and we Americans can start accepting sex as much as we do violence, then we'll all be better off. So yeah, I kind of agree with the peaceful thing you mentioned. Eros Zine: Fair enough. Are all the guns in these photographs real?
Eros Zine: Do you have a weapon of choice? Josef Botello: I tend to get excited over the really menacing-looking guns. The one I used a lot in the book that looks like a submachine gun is a KG-99 which is like a Tec-9. That's the one that's referred to in the movie Jackie Brown as "the most popular gun in American crime." It's not the kind of gun you'd want to rub your girlfriend's cooter with--it's a little too cumbersome for that -- but there's something really evil about it that makes it sexy. Eros Zine: You mention that girls with guns and girls in bondage are usually viewed as opposing themes -- dominant vs. submissive. But if you ask me, in her own way a bound woman is just as dangerous as one with a gun. Is that a particular kink, to mingle those images? Josef Botello: Some of my images that have women wearing rope harnesses while toting firearms came from a story I had in my mind. I imagined this group of female assassins that were unbelievably deadly and cold-blooded… running around shooting people left and right, and under their clothes they were wearing these harnesses that were tied by this master that controls them and directs all of their actions. And this mysterious master they serve is probably a woman. I think with only a few exceptions, the women in my gun pictures and my bondage pictures both look like they've chosen to be in their situations. I recently read a review of my book in this German magazine called Schlagzeilen, and they said something like (and I'm paraphrasing) "Botello photographs accomplices and not victims." I thought that was pretty cool and very accurate. I think it's a lot sexier to see a woman tied up who looks like she's reveling in every second of it. Eros Zine: You've expressed your feeling that the subject of a photograph is more important than technique. You also mention that since you're doing all this in a shoestring and don't have the cash for expensive photo or lighting equipment, you shoot all your photos with a low-end digital point-and-shoot and $7 work lights. Would you work with more expensive equipment if you could, or do you think it expands your vision to not have access to that kind of bankroll? Or do you think it would change the type of photography you do if, for instance, you had an expensive loft with floor-to-ceiling windows and a skylight and could shoot everything with natural light? Josef Botello: I don't think it would make too much difference what kind of camera I use. I just don't focus on that part of the process. I think it's important to just pick a setup that works for you and start creating images within that framework. I'll probably try some tungsten lights at some point. If I ever get bored with the way I do things or I'm in a rut for whatever reason, I can see the value of trying some new toys to counter that. I'm not sure what I think about natural light. It's always night time when I'm shooting. Eros Zine: Who does the rope rigging in your photos? Do you do the bondage yourself or do you have an assistant who works with you? How about the ones with other bondage or BDSM toys -- are those usually yours or the models (or both?) Josef Botello: I do all the rigging and provide all the props and whatnot. I think I know enough about rope bondage to get the job done, but I'd definitely like to learn more. It's quite a high to see the finished product after spending a lengthy amount of time tying up a woman in some intricate fashion. I remember the first time I did a full suspension I was just in awe of this beautiful naked woman hanging there in my bedroom (you can check it out on page 75 of the book). Eros Zine: When working with models, do you plan out the shoot or is does it come from the way you and the model interact?
Eros Zine: Do you do any Photoshop work after shooting, or try to leave the photo as it was shot? Josef Botello: I'm not opposed to it. I use it a little here and there, but for the most part I shoot my pictures the way I want them to look. It doesn't usually bother me to see a scar or something on a model. It just gives her character. However, if she has a huge zit on the end of her nose, well, that's gotta go. Eros Zine: Do you have a make-up artist you work with, or do you get assistance in staging or costuming? Or is it just the model and you? Josef Botello: The girlfriend I had during most of the shoots for "Girls, Guns & Ropes" helped with makeup and costuming on some of those shoots, and for the rest it was just the model and myself. Eros Zine: How do you find your models? Are they women you know, or professional models, or both? Do they tend to approach you, or do you seek them out? Josef Botello: All of the models in the book are just girls I know. They are literally everything from strippers to schoolteachers. You're probably not going to see them anywhere else. I'm not opposed to shooting professional models, but there's something special about photographing girls who have never posed nude, never been tied up, and never played with guns -- especially when they end up liking it. Eros Zine: What do you look for in choosing models? Physical beauty? Are there other traits that tend to intrigue you? Josef Botello: Physical beauty is part of it. I usually chase after curvy brunettes. But beyond the physical qualities, they have to be a little wild. I like to see some thirst for debauchery in their eyes. They have to seem somewhat willing to reject the prudish constraints of their parents and peers. I at least need a potential libertine, otherwise the whole encounter is a boring waste of time. Eros Zine: What projects are you working on now? Do you have anything planned for the near future that we can anticipate? Josef Botello: I definitely want to do another book… with bigger guns, tighter ropes, and more hot-ass broads. Eros Zine: Hellz yeah! I'll be watching for it. Fans of Josef Botello's work can check out his web site gunsandropes.com or, better yet, follow the scent of cordite and grab a copy of Girls, Guns & Ropes, published by Goliath/MixofPix. Thanks for talking to us, Josef!
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