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BDSM Dictionary : John Willie: history
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John Alexander Scott Coutts (December 9 1902 - August 5 1962), better known as John Willie, was a pioneering fetish photographer and bondage artist.Life and work
Coutts was born in Singapore and grew up in England. In the 1930s, he taught himself how to draw while living in Australia. In about 1945, he moved to New York City where he published his bondage and fetish magazine "Bizarre" from 1946 to 1959 (compare with ENEG's work in "Exotique" magazine, published 1956 - 1959).
The magazine included many photographs, often of his wife. There were also many letters from readers; he was accused of inventing these letters, but insisted that they were genuine.
As a bondage artist, he is best known for his figure of Sweet Gwendoline, which he drew in a clear, anatomically correct style that influenced later artists such as ENEG and Eric Stanton. Other characters include "U69" (censored to U89 in some editions) as the raven-haired dominatrix who ties up Gwendoline and "Sir Dystic d'Arcy", the only male character and probably a parody of Willie himself.
The comic strip was published by Irving Klaw, who forced Stanton to paint clothes over the whip marks on the originals of "The Missing Princess".
Coutts developed a brain tumor in 1961 and was forced to stop his mail order business. He destroyed his archives and returned to England, where he died.Quote
"Unless a model is a good actress, and has 'that type' of face it's difficult for her to look sad and miserable when working for me. My studio is a pretty cheerful place, and quite unlike the atmosphere that surrounds Gwendoline when the Countess gets hold of her." - John Willie, "The Art of John Willie, Sophisticated Bondage - Book Two" (Page 1)See also
(This entry in the BDSM Dictionary incorporates text from the John Willie article in Wipipedia.)
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