Dread, 29, is the Manchester photographer behind Bad Wolf Photography who turns his lens on the kinky, creative world of fetish. He tells you how every shoot becomes a collaboration with his models' kinks, and what he wants to shoot next.
Hello readers, I’m talking to a fetish photographer today. Dread, can you tell me, what first brought you to wanna try capturing some of the fun bizarre kinky things we like and do on camera?
Hi, thank you for having me. Well in my life as a photographer up until this point I have always wanted to find new and interesting things to photograph. Throughout college, university and my early career I have always been on the look out for passionate people and groups with interesting angles and views on the world.
It was only when I was introduced to the fetish community in Manchester that I realised what a diverse and interesting scene it was. Since then I have been fascinated with all the various aspects of this world and I want to express this the people and the aspects of this wonderful, creative, supportive world through my art in a way that is accessible to those people from outside the kink community as well as those inside it.
Do you have some projects of this sort that you remember well or are special to you?
Well I’m still very new to kink and fetish photography so there isn’t any that particularly stand out but to me each photoshoot is special in its own way. With each new model or product, they bring their own ideas, kinks and fetishes to the table.
In this they have often developed their own style and look. In their uniqueness they bring their own art to the table and together we can create beautiful photographs to show the beauty in the diversity of the individuals and the community.
When you have someone over for a shoot like these, how do you usually go on creating photos with them?
When I have people in the studio I like to have a nice friendly relaxed atmosphere. Often I will talk in depth before hand what we both want out of the photoshoot. Come up with a plan of individual shots and get to work. I keep the tone informal and let everyone in the room have there say when it comes to ideas from how to pose the model to whole new photo ideas.
The way I see it when I’m in the studio with a model or a client it is first and foremost a collaboration. We are equal parts responsible for the art we create. They say that no plan survives contact with the enemy and the same is true on a photoshoot.
I try and let the ideas flow naturally. That way no matter what goes wrong, even if its nothing like what we originally planned I always leave the studio feeling like we have created something truly special and I hope that’s how my work is regarded.
Do you have kinks you prefer to photograph or find yourself especially engaged in?
Mmmmmm… Yes and no. I try to keep my own person bias on kinks out of the picture if you’ll pardon the pun. As an artist and a professional, when I’m photographing a person or a group what I want to show is them and their story. What they’re into and what they want to show, their kinks and fetishes. Its my job to capture their character in the photograph. That being said, I can’t deny that I am drawn to particular kinks and ideas.
When the story in the photograph is up to me I find myself definitely leaning towards my own collection of kinks and interests. For example if part of the shoot involves some intricate ropework or any other form of heavy bondage it definitely gets my interest. As well as rubber and leather come to think of it.
I could probably list things I’m into all day. As for things I’m not into I can’t think of many, its mostly just stuff I’m less into than others.
Do you also have a special ideas or projects with these “your interest catching”- things in your mind you want to realize someday by any chance?
Good question. I Sure do! I have so many ideas for shoots I could easily be out photographing all day every day for a good few years. That is if time and money weren’t an issue. I have two main ideas that I have been thinking about for a while. The first involves exploring the submissive/ dominant mindset (headspace) and visualising that through photography.
Capturing moments or details of that power play exchange but breaking it down to the conceptual level. It sounds complicated but my plan, once I have one that is, is to express these in a simple way to which people can relate.
For example, imagine being tied down securely, blindfolded and gagged. Your senses are reduced to their most basic primal setting. Every noise, every touch. The eagerness the excitement but also the helplessness and the slight panic. How best to convey this in an image? I have many ideas but sooner or later I hope to find the perfect way to express that feeling, and likewise with the dominance side of it as well.
My second main idea is a long-term photographic series where I compare and contrast people’s “normal” lives and their kink lives. For example, a businessman giving a presentation in full rubber under is suit, a mechanic in his pup gear under his overalls or a personal trainer tied to some of his gym’s equipment.
I want to show this in a way that makes the fetish/ kink obvious and portrays it in a positive light while contrasting it with normal situations from the peoples lives. I may have explained those badly but hopefully the photographs will speak for themselves haha.
