Veiled Suggestions

There's something about veils....

As many of you know, in Western culture, brides traditionally wore veils to show they were under someone's authority: first their fathers' (thus their fathers walking them down the aisle), then their husbands'. Looked at another way, the brides weren't meant for everyone to see; they were meant to be enjoyed by their "owners" alone. The Bible also says women should weir veils over their heads as a symbol of authority - not a symbol of their own authority, but of God's authority over them. Of course, no such command is given to men. ;-/

But enough of the pedantry. When a model wears a veil a certain way, I can imagine that she's not really an individual anymore, not under her own control. Just as her face is obscured, her voice is obscured. Her mind is obscured. She has become less than a person, more of a possession. A body half-seen, half hidden, with just enough mind left to obey her owner's commands.

The photographer Mastertouch seems to get this, posing a lot of models under veils in ways that make them look like slaves, MC'ed or otherwise. The picture above is by him, and here are six more - one with bonus gas mask. The last of the six is his favorite model Meluxine; the others are women you probably don't know by name...which is, of course, entirely in keeping with my subject. ;-)

Now here are three models you do know by name. From left to right, we have Ulorin Vex photographed by Lorraine Gilligan, Angela Ryan photographed by Laura Dark, and Apnea photographed by Lithium Picnic. Interestingly enough, on Deviant Art, Ulorin Vex titled the photograph of her "Broken Bride." I can look at her hollow eyes and imagine this is the final step in a long, long process of brainwashing that resulted in her permanent, formal binding to her Mistress.

Now here's a collection of random photos I've collected from Model Mayhem over the last few years. You might or might not have heard of these people, but I believe in proper attribution of images, and anyway you might want to look them up and find more of their work.

First up is Aria Lee, photographed by sideshowsito, whose work I've featured before on this blog. Next is Sindel Chaos by Chad Michael Ward, and then we have someone or other photographed by artographic.

Lastly, here are Miss Mourning, someone or other photographed by Uberdog, and Felice Fawn.

I hope you've enjoyed this tour through the twisted passages of my mind, and that you'll come back for more.