Ben Bale Photography

I’ve begun to get a little bored of uploading photos here, I have such a backlog at the moment. Add to that the fact that feedback seems to have dried up somewhat and I’m struggling to be bothered to upload more.

Anyway, I’m dragging myself up to post something, so here’s a few portraits from the studio. Remember, if you want to model, email me at neb8neb@gmail.com (my ben@benbale.co.uk email is playing up at the moment – sorry if you’ve tried to email me on it in the last couple of months, I wont have got it!)

I don’t know why this post has come out so blue, but go listen to 5000 Years by Recoil.

As I said in my last post – it’s time we went back to torture garden, especially since it’s at a new venue this month. So with that in mind I thought I’d upload a few photos from randomnights out (and in) to get people in the party mood!

There’s a story behind every one of these, but that’s something for another time. So instead, here’s a photo of the worst haircut I’ve ever had.

Well as a few people have talked about coming with us to Torture Garden next weekend, I thought it might be time for an update on here that’s a fetish related.

Of course it helps that I’ve just finished a photoshoot like the one below…

If everyone turns up at torture garden that has said they want to come, it should be an interesting evening. I’ve never been one to shy away from mixing work and personal lives – I don’t see the point of pretending to be someone else at work. Having said that, this will be the first time a number of people from the office have come down to TG with us…

Anyway, here’s a quick set of some random photos I’ve taken in the past that don’t really fit in at all with this post

Oh, and there’s far more from Priscilla coming soon, I just need to get round to uploading them!

A while ago I uploaded the first half of my photoshoot with Sophie which was a little bit of a mix between a fashion photography lady gaga glam mix and rough and ready rock and roll.

Well the second half of that shoot is a little bit more gentle. It’s more parisian boudoir I suppose. We redecorated our bedroom a couple of weeks ago, so I got Sophie round to give the purple walls something to look at! I think the mix is perfect, but then I’m biased.

Verdict?

Oh and here’s a candid one from while I was setting up, I think it’s quite fun

The models I’ve worked with over the years will probably all tell you different things about working with me, but I imagine one thing that will get repeated a bit is the fact that I never really stick to the idea we started with.

That’s certainly the case with this photoshoot of Zoe. We started working on the idea of someone carrying their virginity around as if they were tied to their childhood before spinning off wildly into ‘Mindless Self Indulgence’ album titles (prizes for the first person the get the link).

So the first half of the photoshoot started a little bit like this…

Zoe was a really interesting model to work with, and certainly someone I’d like to work with again some day.

Anyway, the second half of the photoshoot went a little off topic:

Am I the only one that always thought it was odd that Dr. Frankenstein started off by making a 7ft tall guy? Personally, I’d have gone sex slave, then home help. Although taking another look at the orignal film, maybe he was just both

I’m pretty sure that the result of those two – Lady Gaga and Steel Panther – would probably come up with something that looked and sounded a little like a bad Ratt b-side. However luckily this isn’t an audio post. This is the glammed up results of my photoshoot last night with Sophie. The second half was a little bit more luxurious than the glam/sleazy/hippy photos below and I’ll post those later.

What do you think?

Hmm, maybe with a bit of Cheryl Cole and Glastonbury mixed in as well.

Ironically I hate pretty much everything I’ve referenced here – other than Steel Panther, I’d get my tits out for them any day.

I’ve just watched Versace’s comedy take on Caligula – yes I know I’m 5 years behind most people, but I love who gorgeously tacky the whole thing is while being so ornate at the same time. It’s like watching a porn film designed by Jeff Coons (oh, no wait – this is).

Anyway, back to the photography. I’ve just finished a shoot with Adrian. Wax & Rope abound.

My favourite image from this shoot though, is this one…

Having just finished a bondage photoshoot with Adrian, the results of which will appear here later, I’ve been thinking. What are the best songs based on bondage? Since I have a few photos that seemed to fit, I thought I’d put together my own (since the world cup is almost here) first XI of bondage songs.

1. The Velvet Underground & Nico – Venus in Furs
   This song is out an out BDSM classic – I mean you can’t get more obvious than “Comes in bells, your servant, don’t forsake him
   Strike, dear mistress, and cure his heart”. 5 minutes of amazing atmosphere creating soundscapes. Ok, it’s not specifically bondage themed, but damn it’s a good song.
2. Recoil – Breath Control
   Wow. I’m a sucker for narratives within songs, but this is fantastic. As the relationship in the song moves on “it’s been fine so far, but after a while I want more than a soft style” in to the practically orgasmic middle, this this bondage in audio form. As a side project of Depeche Mode member Alan Wilder, I should also give honourable mentions here to two Depeche Mode songs – “In Chains” and “Master and Servant”
3. Closer – Nine Inch Nails
   Ok, I’ll admit it, this song is only hear so I have an excuse to show you a photo of Marvin here. He’s made of nails and a pig’s heart – a bit like this song!
4. Under My Thumb – The Rolling Stones
   Who said bondage had to be about leather straps? This song is a celebration of breaking someone’s will. “It’s down to me, the way she does just what she’s told”. Unlike a lot of these songs, this seems quite one sided, there’s no ‘she asked me to’ here. The closest we get is in the opening lines of “The girl who once had me down”. Revenge is sweet?
5. I’m your man – Leonard Cohen
   More psychology here. This is the ultimate song of submission, if ‘Under my thumb’ is the celebration of domination, then this is surely the other side of the coin.
6. Head like a Hole – Nine Inch Nails
   Again, more BDSM than bondage, but a fantastic song. I couldn’t have made this list without including “bow down before the one you serve, you’re going to get what you deserve”.
7. Whip in my Valise – Adam and the Ants
   Tongue firmly in cheek, this is a great glammed up punky song with some great lyrics.
8. Passenger – Deftones
   Yes this has now got connotations of ‘Queen of the Damned’ but this wall of sound builds up into a brutally soft song – and that’s really not a paradox here.
9. SexyBack – Justin Timberlake
   Who says we can’t look at mainstream pop? You certainly can’t get any more mainstream than Justin Timberlake and with lyrics like “You see the shackles
   Baby I’m your slave
   I’ll let you whip me if I misbehave” this song needs to be here.
10. Leather – Tori Amos
    You couldn’t do a list like this without at least one religious reference and Tori Amos brings all the catholic guilt you could ever want to most of her songs, but this simple song and it’s blues piano solo are fantastic.
11. Oh Bondage, Up Yours! – X-Ray Spex
    Go check out Poly Styrene at wikipedia, that’s a pretty damn good description of this song!

Any more you could add to the list? If you want this lot on spotify, you can find them here

Oh and finally…

It’s finally starting to get warm again in London so we finally get some well needed sunshine! These two shots are from a photoshoot done in Southampton and are a little different to what I normally do – but it was fun to shoot!

The model is Syntheticdrkness. This is also probably as ad-friendly as I get!

Enjoy the summer people!

I love playing with images that are a little bit weird, a little on the dark side. It’s friggin easy to stick a a good looking girl or guy in front of a camera and take a photo. I’ll always prefer creating an image that engages people in more ways than just getting them to jerk off. Not that there’s anything wrong with that – just think about the artistic side of it while you do.

So here are a few photos from different shoots that are a little different.