My Interview With Fetish Model, Pro-Domme, Switch, And Rigger Claire Adams
August 6, 2008
Claire Adams at the Beach. Photography by Lochai
This bondage blog loves Claire Adams. She’s the sexy domme and shibari rigger for Kink.com’s best sites, like Whipped Ass, The Training Of O, as well as the Insex inspired Whipped-Pussy (whipped-pussy.com). She’s an amazing submissive for the Sarge on his site Back Door Bondage (backdoorbondage.com), as well as a top shelf fetish model on her own site, Claire Bondage (clairebondage.com). Not only is she wonderful at all the roles already listed, but she’s also the model in fetish photographer Lochai’s iconic image, Beach Bound. With such a multi-facted public persona, I simply had to interview her, and she was gracious enough to accept. Thank you, Claire!
How did this happen?
Claire: It was always meant to happen I suppose. I was a kinkster early on in childhood and when I became a teenager and started reading books like A Different Loving and Screw the Roses, Send Me the Thorns, I knew it was inescapable. This is who I am. I played privately in High School and when I was 18, I booked my first shoot to appear at Insex.com. I first appeared just after turning 19 and the experience was incredible. I connected to everything around me. The rope, the pain, the dynamics, the process, the intellectual and emotional journey. There really wasn’t anything that dissuaded me from wanting to experience as much as I could and I still sincerely feel that way.
Do you define yourself as any one thing over another in your head? Claire Adams, rigger or Claire Adams, Domme or Master Damon’s Slut, etc? Do you compartmentalize the distinct different personae you have, or do you integrate them together?
Claire: Well foremost, I am Owned by Master Damon Pierce *smiles* In reality, I am Claire. In actuality more people in my life call me Claire than by any other name I possess. My self identity is in being me. I do not believe in bifurcating my individuality. When I am Topping another woman I am still the intimate submissive I am with Damon. I feel that every facet of self contributes to my outward personality and the games I play. I am fascinated by brutal honesty and bringing truth to any play situation, which generally takes a lot out of both me and the person I am playing with, in a good way.
As a rope bottom, what was is it like to be the center focus of the World’s Most Erotic Photograph and to model in one of the most iconic images in the world? Do you find that people are surprised when they find out that “Beach Bound” is actually “Beach Bound with Claire Adams”?
Claire: I do not mind if people recognize me in the photo or not. What was special about the photograph was the moment. It captured a beautiful space in time that I will always remember along with many other truly special experiences and I am happy that other people can share that moment with me. In a way for people to be captivated by the image I think anonymity is a good thing if not necessary.
Claire: Lochai is a very straight to the point, clear and concise communicator. I appreciate his up front approach and honesty. I also like his observational style of seeing where the rope takes the scene.
As a rigger, you did the first vanilla suspension for Vanity Fair. How did that shoot differ from one you did for Kink, aside from the obvious naughtiness?
Claire: Well working with the amazing photographer Art Streiber, the fabulous Tom Ford, and the amazing Peter Saarsgard put a very interesting approach to bondage. They were all interested in the aesthetics and the process of the experience, much like us rope enthusiasts. Peter did not think he would be able to suspend, but I gently removed the apple boxes away from his torso, he gasped… then realized it was ok. He was comfortable, happy, and excited to have this experience. That is what I love about working with new people or people with a genuine interest in wanting to go somewhere. The difference between the two was very little. Intent is everything.
As a sub, are the things that you enjoy experiencing the same things that you enjoy inflicting upon others as a top?
Claire: As strange as it sounds, I love to share empathy. When I interact with someone with me as the Top, I feel that I am facilitating an experience with them. Taking them somewhere I know they can go intuitively or out of experience or even common sense. Everything I do to someone, especially rope are things I frequently fantasize about having done to myself… so in some crazy bondage positions that I have not had the chance to experience yet, I can experience them vicariously and get off in a different but still exciting way.
Do you see a defined border between the worlds of Fetish and Porn? I ask because in my work (Marky) I can see a difference in the people, the ethos, and the vibe, when I deal with production porn, and when I deal with fetish/bdsm.
Claire: Bondage and Porn are now more synonmyous than Fetish and Porn. When they started integrating main stream porn models into the BDSM market, like 3 years ago the bondage model ceased to exist. This happened because not all models are created equal and if they ask a mainstream porn model to do a single ankle suspension and be single tailed, you won’t have many takers. The amount of pain and the intensity of the bondage had to be decreased in order to accomodate the “Market Demand” for bondage and sex. Now as I see it, the main difference between a Fetish and a Bondage Model is that one is comfortable with nudity and insertion, the other is not. I have judgment on neither.
Do you see, or have you experiences any conflict by defining yourself as a switch rather than a submissive or domme? I ask (Catalina), because recently a friend of mine just found out that you are owned by Master Damon and it changed the way he saw you. He said he could no longer think of you as a Domme, as you are owned by someone else ultimately. As a switch myself (Catalina) I find it difficult to live in the “in between” world. People don’t quite know how to take me.
Claire: Switches in the community at times are viewed crtically. In the BDSM society that we live in, sometimes people are not too keen on the grey area. They want their play to be as defined as the people they are playing with, and I understand and embrace this predicament. My personal definition of who I am is a Switch that is more submissive than Dominant.
What is it about Sgt. Major that brings out the submissive side of you? Is it his style of impact play, his persona, or do you just like the guy?
Claire: I respect Sarge for all of the reasons above! He is a great guy!
Do you keep in touch with anybody from your Insex days? Do you see Insex as the “ground zero” for online bondage?
Claire: Well I can respond cynically and say “yes every day” hehehe, considering I live with Damon. As far as models go, well I do speak with Princess Donna and the current models that work there. As far as riggers, I am good friends with Cyd and Matt. Half of the webmasters at Kink.com were in some way shape or form involved with Insex. I am sure Insex has had a strong formative grasp on the advent of internet sites, so has House of Gord and many others that started around the same time. I have the greatest admiration for PD as a rigger, artist, and inventor. His craft is unparallelled in rope as is his creative process and individuality.
Can you give a quick overview of your company, Vintage Rope, and of the difference and distinctions between the various types of rope.
Claire: Vintage Rope is Master Damon Pierce and myself’s rope company. We are the purveyors of exotic hemp rope, synthetic rope, bondage scarves, educational books, and vintage style cotton. Rope varies greatly in its use by what it is made out of, how thick it is, its strength/durability/comfort, and ease of use. We sell Japanese hemp. It is a 3 strand, available in 4mm, 6mm, and 8mm. We work with this rope a great deal because we love the way it handles, holds knots/strength, and its overall comfort and durability.
What’s it like working for a professional company like Kink.com as opposed to a more niche site like whipped-pussy.com or backdoorbondage.com? Do the smaller sites allow for greater intensity?
Claire: Honestly the intensity of a scene for me is dependent upon the person I am working with, no matter where we are! Whether its a big crew or a small one, the biggest thing is being able to focus on the tasks at hand, whether I am a model or a director, or just a rigger. As long as you can maintain the connection with your play partner, that is what matters.
What’s the future hold for Claire Adams? Are you mapping the human genome, building lego monuments, eating cheese? What’s on your plate?
Claire: For now, you can pay attention to my site : http://www.clarebondage.com and Damon’s site: http://www.damonpierce.com and our company, http://www.vintagerope.com. Damon and I always have a vast array of interests and desires, you may never know what we will come up with next!
Filed under: Backdoor Bondage, Bondage, Fetish Femme Fatales, Kink.com, Lochai, Shibari, Whippedass.com, Wiredpussy.com, fetish, thetrainingofo.com, whipped-pussy.com |