Photo of the Day: Bound April 27 2011
The main attraction at Frolicon, the annual sci-fi, fetish convention, is the dungeon
- Dustin Chambers
- 1900 Sullivan Road, College Park, GA - 12:12 am, April 24, 2011
This photo was made during Frolicon 2011, an annual sci-fi and fetish/BDSM convention, in the halls of at the Sheraton Gateway in College Park. Different people throughout the night were being tied up and experimenting with different types of suspension and rope play. This young lady, who asked to remain anonymous and not show her face, was in the process of being bound by her partner. During the afternoons of the three-day convention, fetish workshops are held focusing on things like wax play, spanking, and rope play. There were also seminars on leading normal lives while maintaining the lifestyle. At night, the Sheraton becomes an energetic mash of sweaty sci-fi sex partiers.
The main attraction at night is the dungeon, where some of the most explicit BDSM acts were taking place. (BDSM stands for Bondage, Discipline, Sadism, and Masochism — though the DS is also interpreted as Dominance and Submission.) No photos were allowed in the dungeon, but I went in to check out the scene. This was my first foray into witnessing BDSM in person, and I'm still digesting all of it. A woman with a bloody back and thighs from being whipped; people struck through with dozens of needles on both arms and semi-suspended by strings attached to the needles; people up against walls being elbowed and kneed into their backs. I hate to admit it, but I was shocked. Everywhere I looked I saw something I had never really imagined seeing. It's not because what was happening was wrong, and I truly do respect these people's desires, but I guess that's just what happens when you experience something so extremely different from what is considered your personal norm. It's a reminder of why I love photography though. This was an extreme, underground, and generally inaccessible culture that I never would have experienced on my own choosing. I genuinely feel that when we choose to view absolutely new things with open minds, that we generate a greater understanding of humanity.
More Frolicon 2011 photos