In honour of M – sashaying away

I read with considerable sorrow of the passing of M from @cammiesonthefloor this week. Although I never had the pleasure of meeting her, her writing and images struck multiple chords with me. Although she was far more advanced in rope work and other kink activities than I, I valued her provocative, beautiful and entertaining photographs (see for example her wax play photo for #SinfulSunday Roundup 374) along with her insights into matters of consent (in particular).

After seeing Mal’s announcement on Twitter this week I felt compelled to go to M’s blog and browse through her work once again. Rereading her truly heartbreaking honest post on her battle with depression has given me much to consider as someone very dear to me has been having a particularly difficult fortnight. I haven’t been posting as much as I used to and therefore missed some of her more recent photographs. I’m not sure which moved me more – the free-spirited vivacious shots of her dancing in her short Capt America skirt or the gorgeously curvaceous images of her sheathed in purple (!) latex “sashaying away”.

M was a strong contributor to the ArtTwist meme and I and others were fascinated and challenged by her dark intense image Luncheon in Rope for her first ArtTwist contribution. Despite her confession in that post that she didn’t know “how to do editing and Photoshop” her passion for heightened colour, clever use of filters and delightfully grungy settings inspired me creatively both then and now, and photographer CM and I are still actively considering where  we might locate burnt out abandoned cars for a photoshoot.

My heart goes out to M’s family, friends and play partners  – those who featured in her writings and photographs – as well those who were fortunate to meet and appreciate her in person. However  for myself and many others our only interaction with M was on social media, yet as is often observed the sex blogging community is a smallish but very real community. We care about each others welfare, and the loss of a member is felt and sometimes felt deeply. Not only because we are often set apart from mainstream society but also because we openly share intimacies and insights into our lives, our sexual selves, and quite often our wounds. M did all of those things and graced our lives with some truly wonderful memorable images as well.

RIP: M @cammiesonthefloor 2018