Rope Tales

Kinbaku: a challenge for the body, a shiver for the mind

Hashira lacing

Filed Under: Photo

This session began as a moment of research and experimentation at home between Marta Tenshiko and Federico Kirigami. The work revolves around a new shape built on the hashira, using a lacing of the legs: the legs are held tightly together and wrapped in numerous turns of rope, reshaping their volume and their relationship with the vertical line of the post.

The sequence alternates strong contrasts of light, portraits and variations of the position. The tension of the inverted shape gradually gives way to quieter images; at the end of the shoot, Marta’s gaze brings the story into an intimate and introspective moment.

  • Marta Tenshiko kneeling beside the hashira with her arms bound behind her back
  • Rear portrait of Marta kneeling as she looks past the hashira
  • Marta inverted on the hashira with her legs joined in the lacing and her hair falling toward the tatami
  • Front view of the inverted shape with the leg lacing secured tightly to the hashira, in a shibari session
  • Profile of Marta’s inverted suspension along the wooden post, in the kinbaku progression
  • Marta lifted against the hashira with her legs wrapped in the lacing and her head tilted back, within a kinbaku session
  • Marta stretches off axis from the hashira as her red hair rises with the movement, in the kinbaku progression
  • Marta looks at the camera while inverted, her legs secured by the lacing on the hashira
  • Marta’s intense expression in the inverted shape under strongly contrasting light
  • Marta suspended upside down with her body curved and her long hair flowing downward, within a kinbaku session
  • Introspective portrait of Marta with ropes arranged across her blue dress
  • Marta seated with crossed legs and her arms folded behind her body
  • Final portrait of Marta seated in contemplation after the exploration on the hashira

Model: Marta Tenshiko
Ropes and photography: Federico Kirigami