Black BDSM History

Photography and Imagery

As far as imagery is concerned, we have already observed that many of the images of People of Color in BDSM and Leather have come from a fetish or fantasy point of view, and are generally not by People of Color. Way back in the 1970s there was a photographer who documented the Leather and BDSM scene as it was in those underground days. He was a Man of Color and a self-identified kinkster known as Efrain Gonzalez. He has documented those early days when the scene was grimy and dirty and so much fun. He has presented some of these images including some of icons like Morgan HMQ at play right here at The Dark Lair. In addition, he has become a licensed tour guide so that he can take the curious on a tour of what was once a vibrant underground kink scene in the seamy underbelly of New York City’s Meatpacking District, long before it became an enclave for the trendy. Also, noticing the dearth of high quality erotic photography featuring People of Color, a talented Man of Color known as Darque de Sade set out on a campaign to change the imagery of Black BDSM from one of tawdry low quality smut, to erotic art. He was able to produce two wonderful books of his photography before his untimely passing in 2010. His work in this regard was truly innovative. We have others now stepping in to expand on this concept, one of whom is our very own Solomon Abrams. We hope to add many more to the list as we document our history and move our images away from the stereotypical.