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Click any image to view the
pop-up gallery slide show. A photographer with a fine-arts background, Diamond has worked with many of the biggest names in adult modeling on fine-art fetish photographs as well as explicit erotic video projects. We caught up with Michael Diamond recently during a brief stopover between Berlin and Florida and talked with him about his photography and video work. Eros Zine: Your company ErosArts is described as your talents combined with those of Lady Venus, who has also appeared in a number of your photos. How do the two of you work together to produce the stories and photos on your site?
For the past two years, I have been working on the ErosArts project full time, while Lady Venus maintains her career in the science field. This gives me much more freedom and opportunity to travel and document the fetish scene than Lady Venus can, although she is a photographer as well. Many of the events that we attend together limit the number of photographers, but she has been photographing more recently. When it comes to writing a review, she is a much better author than I. When I have to write a review of an event, it's an agonizing day of putting the words together to write an article that I feel comfortable publishing on ErosArtist.com. She, on the other hand, is much more verbal than I am, and usually does a fair amount of tweaking to my articles. Eros Zine: What's your background in photography? How did you get into it -- and did you intend when you started to do erotic or fetish work, or is that something that came later? Michael Diamond: I've always had an interest in photography, ever since I received my first 35 mm camera when I was about 16. In my 20s, I had dreams of living as an artist, and I used my photographs as reference material for drawings and paintings. As time passed and my life went in a different direction, my art and photography went by the wayside. It wasn't until I was in my late 30's and the advent of digital photography that I picked up a camera again and began to create erotic drawings and paintings, showcasing my work on a little website I set up called ErosArtist.com. A couple of years later, the owner of HotMovies.com, Richard, was shown my work by a mutual friend and encouraged me to pursue my passion by offering me the opportunity to run another website owned by National A-1, FemDom.com.
Michael Diamond: I lived a very vanilla life until the past few years. About the same time I was given the opportunity to work on FemDom.com, I met my business partner Lady Venus who was a Dominatrix. Shooting video and photos for FemDom was my first experience with the BDSM scene. For the first year we focused on making FemDom content, with Lady Venus often performing in the videos and photo sets we created for the site. It was a slow start, as I had to learn how to shoot and edit video, write html, and learn about the adult website business. I kept my day job, and we would work on making original female domination videos in the evening and on weekends. Once we had enough content, we launched our version of FemDom.com as a member's site. The site lasted about a year, before we reached the conclusion that a successful member's site was not an easy task for two people who were not able to commit to it on a full-time basis. I lost a lot of money that first year, producing content that was only being seen on HotMovies.com and the member's site. Fortunately, right about then Richard offered me a Sybian, to see what we could come up with. Eros Zine: That brings up one of your projects, Sybian Rides 4 Cash -- can you say a little bit about that? You say Richard offered you a Sybian, but as far as the site itself, whose idea was it? Do you work on that with Lady Venus as well? Do you find that some models are reluctant to climb on the Sybian and try something new like that? Michael Diamond: We worked very hard on FemDom.com, but couldn't make a member's site work on a part-time basis. After a year of running FemDom, Richard from HotMovies offered to give me a Sybian to see what sort of content I could create. I researched what type of Sybian videos were being made, and found that almost all of them consisted of putting a girl on the machine, turning the power on high, and watching her gyrate until she faked (or rarely actually had) an orgasm. The camera seemed to be set on a tripod, with one static image of the girl on the machine. I wanted to create a fun, real experience for the girls who chose to ride the Sybian. Usually I am alone with the model in a Sybian shoot, but sometimes Lady Venus assists on a shoot, photographing the model as I control the Sybian and videotape the scene.
With the creation of our Sybian series of videos, and marketing them on a number of websites such as HotMovies.com and Clips4Sale.com, I was able to quit my day job and pursue my more artistic endeavors. Lady Venus still has another career in the science industry, but assists with marketing the videos and photographing fetish and adult events around the world. Eros Zine: You've traveled all around the world documenting fetish events. Where have been your favorite places to travel? Where have you found the most exciting events? Michael Diamond: For the past two years, we've been photographing and documenting fetish events around the world. HotMovies.com sponsors many fetish and adult events such as AVN, Skin Two Rubber Ball, the Fetish Factory, and many others. HotMovies has been very generous in sending us to document events that they have sponsored. Many people don't realize that it would be nearly impossible to have many of the world's greatest fetish parties and adult conventions without the sponsorship of companies such as HotMovies. I love traveling to Europe, and have been given the opportunity to photograph events in London, Munich, Berlin, Amsterdam, Paris, and recently Japan. Each fetish event has its own flavor and is exciting in a different way. I would have to say that in the states, my favorite events this past year were those run by the Fetish Factory, Robert Fluty's LA Kink Ball, and FetishCon. Outside of the states, the London Rubber Ball, Munich BoundCon, and Nuit Demonia in Paris are a few of my favorites. Eros Zine: How about outside of the fetish scene? What are your favorite places to travel to just because of the place, not the scene? Michael Diamond: I love exploring Europe. I rarely traveled out of the country a lot in my past life, so these past two years have been pretty incredible. I love Amsterdam, and can't wait to go back again, as well as Paris and London. Eros Zine: What's the most fun you've had at a fetish event or on a fetish-related trip?
Eros Zine: You photograph both fetish models and porn stars. In recent memory, these two groups were often not keen to be confused in the mind of their fans -- many fetish models didn't want to be seen as doing something too erotic or overtly pornographic, and many porn stars didn't want to do too much kinky stuff for fear of being seen as too out on the edge. Would you agree that that's really changed in the last five years or so? Does it seem like porn stars enjoy working on edgier or kinkier projects, and fetish models are more willing to work on overtly sexual projects? Michael Diamond: Yes, I think that is an acute observation. RubberDoll is a prime example of a latex fetish model that has pushed the boundaries. I've photographed her at many fetish parties, and her stage shows are highly erotic (and I'm sure some would say pornographic). When she performs with an equally kink-minded star such as Jean Bardot, or Anastasia Pierce, there are pretty much no limits to what they will do on stage. RubberDoll also has a website where you can see her videos and photo sets. Mika Tan is a great example of a porn star that also does a lot of edgy performances on camera. I've shot Mika on the Sybian, and she was a lot of fun. I was surprised when she told me that she does a lot of work for Kink.com and other studios as a dominatrix in BDSM videos. The Fashionistas by John Stagliano is a fetish-oriented pornographic video that was a recent AVN award winner, and has even been adapted for the theater in Las Vegas. I think that the more alternative sexual possibilities that people are exposed to, the more the blend of fetish and pornography will continue to grow. Eros Zine: What are your favorite qualities in a model you work with? Are you looking for beauty, charisma, ease of working with her, other qualities…? Michael Diamond: Most of my photography has been fetish event oriented, which is a totally different vibe than shooting one-on-one with a model. When time permits, I love to work with a model that has a creative mind and is comfortable with her body. I don't like to 'pose' a model by telling her how to position her body for a shot. One of my favorite models to shoot is Rebecca of Rebecca'sRubberRoom.com. We've had a great chemistry together from the very first time I photographed her during the Exotic Erotic ball in NYC in 2006. Eros Zine: I've made the observation many times that fetish and BDSM people in smaller towns often seem to me (as a big city person) to be even more devoted to their lifestyle than those who live in big cities. Do you think this observation is true at all, or are the most intense and experienced players where you might expect them, in Berlin and New York and LA, et cetera?
Eros Zine: You do video work as well as photography. Do you have any plans for feature-length videos that document the scene? Michael Diamond: Things have been moving so fast during the past few years, that I haven't had much time to plan any major video projects. I do like the idea of documenting the fetish scene through video. What I love about photography is having the ability to capture a moment of time in an image that I find beautiful and expressive. I think that video loses the spontaneity that a photograph captures. Plus I think that people are usually more self-conscious in front of a video camera then they are when I photograph them. Eros Zine: How about books -- any photo books or print materials in the works? Michael Diamond: I haven't really given much thought to making prints or books yet. Frankly, I haven't had much time during the past couple of years with all of the traveling I've been doing. I like the idea of a book, but at this point it would be more of a vanity project. Right now I'm focusing on continuing to travel and build my body of work. Eros Zine: Are there any other projects you'd like to make sure our readers know about? Michael Diamond: We have a few things lined up for next year. I really want to expand on our fetish video work next year, and may be a little more selective in which fetish and adult events we plan on covering. I already have a few great events booked in 2008, so if you want to keep up with what's happening in the International Fetish scene, just bookmark ErosArtist.com and keep checking back! Eros Zine: Thanks, Michael! Have fun in Florida! (At press time, Diamond was jetting off to Key West for another event).
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