Dominatrix chronicler notes appeal of mistresses to submissive male politicians
By Charlie Smith, April 27, 2011
Photographer Maria Coletsis's new book, Beyond the Whip: Dominatrix, features mistresses speaking in their own words.
When Canadian voters enter polling stations on Monday (May 2) to cast their ballots, they might be voting for a submissive client of a dominatrix, according to a Vancouver-area photographer.
Maria Coletsis travelled the world to interview and take dramatically staged, glossy photos of dommes.
In a recent interview with the Georgia Straight about her book Behind the Whip: Dominatrix (Fourfront Editions), Coletsis said she discovered that city centres dense with politicians, powerful bureaucrats, and wealthy businessmen have the highest number of mistresses and dungeons.
She pointed out that Brussels—which is home to NATO headquarters and the de facto capital of the European Union—“blew my mind” in this regard.
She added that London, Tokyo, Paris, Berlin, New York, and Washington, D.C., are also major centres, in contrast to a city like Athens, which does not have nearly as many dominatrixes per capita.
“The predominant client—and I asked of all the dommes around the world—seemed to be the high-in-society, powerful man, be it in a corporate environment [and] absolutely in the political environment, specifically in London,” Coletsis revealed.
The Emily Carr University of Art + Design grad said she has always been interested in subcultures, and began photographing the fetish scene when she lived in London.
Maria Coletsis discusses why she likes photographing dominatrixes.
She met a professional dominatrix who wanted pictures taken for her website, opening the door to a new world.
“I was fascinated with her, with the apparatus, with the fantasy environment that was created here,” Coletsis said.
From there, Coletsis began taking other meticulously composed images to capture the mistress’s persona.
The photographer had previously obtained a master’s degree from the San Francisco Art Institute, where she specialized in feminine identity and sexuality. And she was curious to know if the mistress’s sexuality was defined by her dominance, whether it had an impact on her relationships, and what her clients were like.
Coletsis said she was initially under the mistaken impression that meek men sought out dominatrixes.
“I didn’t really understand that it was actually the more powerful and successful,” she stated. “The more powerful these men were in society, in politics, whatever aspect of their life, there seemed to be a desire to relinquish that power and give trust to their mistress to take them to the place where they felt that they could find balance in their life.”
She witnessed powerful men in the corporate world revert to being babies or naughty boys. One of the mistresses profiled in her book talks about toilet training her adult clients. Others discuss how they punish submissives.
Coletsis said she recalled seeing one “super good-looking guy, dressed beautifully in wonderful fabrics” go into the bathroom and emerge as a dog on a leash, wearing only a thong.
“That takes a lot of honesty to be able to reveal your hidden fantasy—and it might be embarrassing or humiliating—and yet be brave enough to say, ‘I want this,’ ” she acknowledged.
Coletsis added that the man was as attractive as a GQ magazine model and had 500 people working for him.
She characterized the visits that powerful men make to dominatrixes as escapes from all the pressure they’re feeling.
“I feel it’s the only time in their life that they can relinquish all responsibility and be something they don’t have a lot of opportunity to be.”
When asked if politicians are more likely to want to venture into this lifestyle in a submissive role, Coletsis replied: “Absolutely, and always in a submissive role, because the political life is one of power, authority, negotiation. In the submissive role, you give up all that. And actually, the true submissive does not even dictate to their mistress what they want. They let their mistress take them places.”
In researching Behind the Whip: Dominatrix, Coletsis interviewed and photographed dominatrixes who live in North America, Europe, Asia, and Australia. They had certain things in common, despite their differences in race, culture, religion, and age.
“There was a particular type of personality,” she noted. “These women reached inside themselves to discover that they really felt a surge of fulfillment by having a dominant personality, and being able to create a lifestyle and profession by incorporating that into their work.”
Follow Charlie Smith on Twitter at twitter.com/csmithstraight.
By Charlie Smith, April 27, 2011
Photographer Maria Coletsis's new book, Beyond the Whip: Dominatrix, features mistresses speaking in their own words.
When Canadian voters enter polling stations on Monday (May 2) to cast their ballots, they might be voting for a submissive client of a dominatrix, according to a Vancouver-area photographer.
Maria Coletsis travelled the world to interview and take dramatically staged, glossy photos of dommes.
In a recent interview with the Georgia Straight about her book Behind the Whip: Dominatrix (Fourfront Editions), Coletsis said she discovered that city centres dense with politicians, powerful bureaucrats, and wealthy businessmen have the highest number of mistresses and dungeons.
She pointed out that Brussels—which is home to NATO headquarters and the de facto capital of the European Union—“blew my mind” in this regard.
She added that London, Tokyo, Paris, Berlin, New York, and Washington, D.C., are also major centres, in contrast to a city like Athens, which does not have nearly as many dominatrixes per capita.
“The predominant client—and I asked of all the dommes around the world—seemed to be the high-in-society, powerful man, be it in a corporate environment [and] absolutely in the political environment, specifically in London,” Coletsis revealed.
The Emily Carr University of Art + Design grad said she has always been interested in subcultures, and began photographing the fetish scene when she lived in London.
Maria Coletsis discusses why she likes photographing dominatrixes.
She met a professional dominatrix who wanted pictures taken for her website, opening the door to a new world.
“I was fascinated with her, with the apparatus, with the fantasy environment that was created here,” Coletsis said.
From there, Coletsis began taking other meticulously composed images to capture the mistress’s persona.
The photographer had previously obtained a master’s degree from the San Francisco Art Institute, where she specialized in feminine identity and sexuality. And she was curious to know if the mistress’s sexuality was defined by her dominance, whether it had an impact on her relationships, and what her clients were like.
Coletsis said she was initially under the mistaken impression that meek men sought out dominatrixes.
“I didn’t really understand that it was actually the more powerful and successful,” she stated. “The more powerful these men were in society, in politics, whatever aspect of their life, there seemed to be a desire to relinquish that power and give trust to their mistress to take them to the place where they felt that they could find balance in their life.”
She witnessed powerful men in the corporate world revert to being babies or naughty boys. One of the mistresses profiled in her book talks about toilet training her adult clients. Others discuss how they punish submissives.
Coletsis said she recalled seeing one “super good-looking guy, dressed beautifully in wonderful fabrics” go into the bathroom and emerge as a dog on a leash, wearing only a thong.
“That takes a lot of honesty to be able to reveal your hidden fantasy—and it might be embarrassing or humiliating—and yet be brave enough to say, ‘I want this,’ ” she acknowledged.
Coletsis added that the man was as attractive as a GQ magazine model and had 500 people working for him.
She characterized the visits that powerful men make to dominatrixes as escapes from all the pressure they’re feeling.
“I feel it’s the only time in their life that they can relinquish all responsibility and be something they don’t have a lot of opportunity to be.”
When asked if politicians are more likely to want to venture into this lifestyle in a submissive role, Coletsis replied: “Absolutely, and always in a submissive role, because the political life is one of power, authority, negotiation. In the submissive role, you give up all that. And actually, the true submissive does not even dictate to their mistress what they want. They let their mistress take them places.”
In researching Behind the Whip: Dominatrix, Coletsis interviewed and photographed dominatrixes who live in North America, Europe, Asia, and Australia. They had certain things in common, despite their differences in race, culture, religion, and age.
“There was a particular type of personality,” she noted. “These women reached inside themselves to discover that they really felt a surge of fulfillment by having a dominant personality, and being able to create a lifestyle and profession by incorporating that into their work.”
Follow Charlie Smith on Twitter at twitter.com/csmithstraight.
