This may be the naughtiest card so far in the tarot set, but in a lot of ways I think its the most powerful I’ve done so far. Amaya has a lot of experience doing fetish modeling and when I met her I knew she was perfect for what I wanted to do with this card. I couldn’t be happier with how it turned out.
Steph was concerned that maybe the concept and visuals were a little over the top, but I like it, not just because of the raw sexuality of it, but I felt like it told a very real story with a single image.
Would love comments on this.
Excellent! I wouldn’t put my interpretation in this thread, so I sent it to you in an instant message! I’m so proud of me, I got it right! Oh yeah, and evidently, my son’s a little kinky 😉
@lrayholly: yep. Glad you like it. And no comment. 🙂
I love this image and how it fits with the symbolism of the card but I also agree with Steph that it might be a little over the top. I think you’ll need to look at it again when the deck is completed and see if it fits. With the cards you’ve done, I feel this stands out too much. I’m wondering if just removing the ball gag would be enough – although it’s kind of fun that she had it in her mouth and is staring at the alcohol.
I just love the contrast between this shot and the others you posted of her. 🙂
I’m quite certain you owe us some extras still, no?
It does seem like the only way to evaluate this is in the context of the whole deck…so I’ll wait. 🙂
Oh…and I love that your mom is the first to comment on this. Hi Mav’s mom! You rock. 🙂
@Kungfukitten: well, its a heavier card. They can’t all be people just sitting there all serene. 🙂 I have some other dark ones planned too. Someone else made the remove the ball gag comment to me offline, as well. But I dunno, I think that’s one of my favorite parts. Because even if she managed to scoot over to the bottles without unchaining herself, she still wouldn’t be able to drink from them.
@d.rex: I’ll probably post a couple outtakes when I get around to them. But that’s easily my favorite of all them (which is of course why I used it). And yes, my mom does rock.
Well done sir. I love this.
I love the look in her eyes — not exactly submissive, evokes a sense of challenge. 🙂
@Jack Scoresby: thanks. I’m glad you approve.
@tomato_sutra: that’s what i was going for. She’s not submitting. She’s fighting.
Well shot Mav. Bold.
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Seen on your photo stream. (?)
@Tojosan: thank you
great!!!
@G&D Photographer: thank you.
This is fantastic. Simply fantastic.
@Princess Diablo: thank you. Good to see its not too offensive.
Ok, I have to admit, I haven’t been "getting" a lot of your tarot cards. I think the photos themselves have been, overall, really great, but your interpretation of what the cards mean is often different than the interpretations I’ve been used to, so I haven’t been saying a lot about the tarot cards.
This one, in particular, however, seems to be the opposite of what the card is supposed to mean. From my understanding, the temperance card is more about living a balanced life, which may include self-restraint, but the restraint itself isn’t the focus (not to mention, it doesn’t exactly look like something she could get into by herself).
I think this picture would have been a much better choice for The Devil, which is a card about temptation and being trapped by that temptation. It’s also kind of cool as a visual joke. But it’s definitely NOT what I would have thought of as "temperence" in any way, shape or form.
@SydB42: it depends on the deck actually. Though the Waite-Rider deck is easily most popular deck, various decks change the interpretations as they see fit. Crowley’s Thoth Tarot (the second most popular) even dumped some of the cards and added new ones.
Anyway, I have 14 different decks and several books that I’ve used for research to get the interpretations that I wanted. I made meticulous notes about what I wanted to get across and then I put decks away and designed my own ideas based on those notes. It was very important to me from the beginning that I didn’t simply copy the classic poses and styles, even if I was getting at the same meaning. This is the Maverick Tarot after all, and it needed to have my vision in it. That’s why I’ve been so interested in the opinions of people who "know nothing about tarot." I don’t want you to have to.
Oh, and she totally got into the restraints by herself. I watched her do it. 🙂
Oh yeah, I totally understand that this is your own deck and your own interpretation. That’s why I haven’t said a whole lot about it being different than my interpretation. Even on the ones where it wouldn’t be my interpretation, I could see where it came from. Everyone has their own take on the cards. This one just seemed completely opposite from the meaning it traditionally has (as opposed to just having a different take), which is why I wanted to say something.
As for the restraints, I looked at those closely and saw that it was possible that she did it herself (and probably got out of them herself?) but it doesn’t look that way to the casual observer, which is why I also think it doesn’t fit "Self-restraint", even if I had no clue what the card was supposed to mean.
So, at this point, I guess my question is…how does this show self-restraint? Or is it simply the play on words of her having literally restrained herself?
(As an aside, I’m not sure I’d understand a traditional Rider Waite tarot deck at this point…I actually don’t know a whole lot about tarot to begin with, and the deck I am most familiar with isn’t a Rider Waite deck)
@SydB42: the idea behind it here is that in order to teach herself temperance she has bound herself so that she can’t get to the licquor, even if she wants to, which she clearly does. I also kncoked over one of the bottles to evoke the traditional pouring of the W-R deck.
As for the W-R deck, the vast majority of decks are vastly inspired by it. So even if you aren’t familiar with that one, its likely that it shares a lot of imagery with it. (Obviously, I am avoiding that)
I tend to have a different take on these than others, I guess. I don’t mind that it’s a little over the top, but I do think that there is something distracting about the model’s feet. I realize she is supposed to be struggling, but the one foot is too much in focus.
Otherwise, nice job. 🙂
@thwomp: hmmm… really? I kind of liked that aspect of it. I felt like it added some tension. But I see what you’re saying. Thanks.
I think the picture is fantastic and not over the top at all. Yes she is naked, and yes she is tied up, but there is nothing pornographic about this picture as I see it. I’m not sure it conveys the message you want to convey though – and I too think it’s because it’s hard to understand how she got herself into all those restraints, even if she did. I see a woman that someone else has tied up to stop her to get to the bottles. Her eyes are so desperately reaching for the bottles too, there is real struggle and pain and longing in that look, I can’t believe that she could stay away from the drink if she got loose. Hmmm… I don’t know how I would describe temperence and self-restraint in a picture – I will think about this one…
Maybe it’s that self-restraint in my mind are invisible bonds – I would understand the picture better if she had the same desperate look but without the visible restraints but maybe even in the same kind of pose… Wouldn’t make quite such a dramatic photo though I suppose.
@Baroness Nordmark: this is easily the most controversial card in the deck so far, it seems. One of the things that bugs me about the classic temperance card is that it is too angelic. It is simple. "Oh, I’ll just pour out this little bit of wine and I’ll be fine." It’s too easy. And yet it’s also situated between Death and Devil. I’m more a type that prefers fallen angels and human struggles. Yes, you’re right. Without the bonds, she’d be gulping down that whiskey in front of her. The reason its self restraint is that she has found a way to keep herself from doing so through any means necessary.
Thank you for your comments. Very insightful.
(started my previous comment before you finished your second one I guess)
@Baroness Nordmark: if it helps, think of the bonds as metaphorical. In fact, one might think of my entire major arcana that way. People don’t just wander around in the nude, yet all of my majors are. The bonds are intended to be symbolic as well as striking.
What? You don’t walk around naked? I do, all the time – I’m Swedish after all… 🙂 (Ok, maybe not then…) I do understand that the restraints are supposed to be symbolic, but they look so extremely concrete in sharp contrast to the skin in the picture… I wish they were made of see through plastic or something – there and not there… ah well, it’s a fantastic picture, and when one look at the cards when flicking through the physical deck – i think it will make sense.
And I agree with what you say about the classical Temperance card – self-restraint IS a struggle – and should not be presented as something easily done.
@Baroness Nordmark: Again, I thank you for all of your feedback.