Steven Speliotis, author of Asia Bondage, first became recognized as a professional photographer in Boston, Ma. where his early photographs of dance & portraiture were exhibited in several juried shows winning him much acclaim.

Speliotis has trained in ballet, modern dance, yoga & sculpting as well as apprenticed his mentor, the late renown dance/celebrity photographer Kenn Duncan. Upon Duncan's death in 1986, Speliotis moved to New York City to continue the Duncan legacy.

Speliotis is a freelance portrait photographer for the performing arts in New York City, London & Japan. His client base includes: New York & L.A. talent agencies, book publishers, magazines, record labels, designers, publicists & dance companies.

Photographs by Speliotis have been collected, exhibited and published widely. ie: AMICA, LIFE, TIME, the New York Times, L.A.Times, the VILLAGE VOICE, Art in America, HAWAII, TORONTO, BOSTON & TAIWAN Magazine, DANCE Magazine, PLAYBILL, Exercise For Men Only, to name a few.

Speliotis' first photography book titled, ASIA BONDAGE has just been published by Goliath Books, and named one of the Best Books of 2002 by Michelle7 Fine Art Nude Gallery. Speliotis'"bondage" series has already been exhibited in solo shows in New York, Boston, Berlin & Italy, and part of several group shows in New York, numerous magazines and featured guest artist on several websites galleries.

"I believe we are all in some type of bondage. So, I set out to explore how Dominance & Submission played out in my life."

From Steven Speliotis

I believe we are all in some type of "bondage" (held back, unable to express, restricted).

This belief combined with my interest in Asian Cultures is how I came to choose the Asian Female as my model to portray this complex psychological state.

Finding various Asian Women to partake in this project, Asia Bondage began by sharing my ideas and photographs from previous sessions with a potential model and asking if they could see themselves working with me in a similar way.

We discussed their feelings about Asian Women being portrayed in bondage, their comfort levels and the possibilities of their contribution to this project. Once agreed upon, I began each session by finding powerful shapes and forms unique to each model.

Before I exposed any film with my Hassleblad, I made polaroids to assess the lighting and strength of the image; then I decided how to adorn the body with the white nylon rope.

Safety, comfort and respect are paramount in my sessions, along with allowing each model to have her say in what images ultimately will be published.

My goal in each session is always to create beautiful, poetic and dramatic images.

I hope you enjoy the viewing as I did the making.

Respectfully Yours,
Steven Speliotis

Contact Details:
speliotisphoto@yahoo.com
Website:
www.speliotis.com

Editor's Note: Steven sent me the most incredible rope bondage photos, and I wasn't able to choose 3-4 between them... so here goes with the entire lot. I'm sure you'll agree they are absolutely amazing!