Daymeir Cain, center, a player on the Vertus High School Boys Varsity basketball team, cheers with his teammates before their basketball game against Rochester City School District World of Inquiry School No. 58 at Vertus High School in Rochester, N.Y. Vertus won 66-45. Vertus is an all boys charter high school that focuses heavily on students graduating and having a plan after high school, as well as their four pillars of strong relationships, personalized year round academics, character education, and career preparation. According to data from the New York State Education Department (NYSED), Rochester ranks lowest of the five largest cities in New York for high school graduation rates. Vertus\u2019s goal is to help their students defy those odds.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Collar of Reverence<\/strong> – 01 BDSM is \u201csexual activity involving such practices as the use of physical restraints, the granting and relinquishing of control, and the infliction of pain\u201d, according to the Merriam-Webster Dictionary. The Aphrodite Group is a secretive BDSM club in Rochester, N.Y., where those interested come together to participate in the act and socialize. Dagmar and Kamakazi, who both go by pseudonyms for privacyreasons, have been \u201cplay partners\u201d in a Dominant\/Submissive (D\/s) relationship since the club\u2019s founding in 2016. \u201cWith a D\/s, there is a connection in between our souls that the only way I can really describe is that I’ve never felt it before or ever in any relationship and I’ve been in love many times before,\u201d said Kamakazi. \u201cAnd I cannot envision anything other than Dagmar being part of my life further rest of eternity.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n![\"\"](\"http:\/\/pj.rit.edu\/nppa\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/PS3_vja3416_01-1024x681.jpg\")
Dagmar and Kamakazi embrace each other in an aftercare session after a scene at TAG on Jan. 8, 2022. Aftercare is an important part of BDSM culture to ensure the emotional and physical wellbeing of partners after a scene.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n![\"\"](\"http:\/\/pj.rit.edu\/nppa\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/PS3_vja3416_02-1024x681.jpg\")
Kamakazi watches as another member of TAG spanks Dagmar during her spanking birthday celebration on Aug. 28, 2022. \u201cI see her being able to be who she is here and not have to hide anything,\u201d said Kamakazi. \u201cIn fact, I insist upon honesty in our relationship in all things. She has said to me the reason why she likes coming here is she can literally give up control over her life, and turn over somebody else to lead and help her through life’s challenges, whether it’s in play, or if it’s just in normal everyday life things.\u201d<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n![\"\"](\"http:\/\/pj.rit.edu\/nppa\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/PS3_vja3416_03-1024x681.jpg\")
Kamakazi and Dagmar spectate other scenes in the basement play space at The Aphrodite Group (TAG) on Feb. 12, 2022. TAG has built up a strong community where they collaborate and experiment together in the safe space together on weekend nights for play parties. The club is \u201cfocused on consensual BDSM and Kink in a positive, supportive environment.\u201d<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n![\"\"](\"http:\/\/pj.rit.edu\/nppa\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/PS3_vja3416_04-1024x681.jpg\")
Dagmar and Kamakazi eat together during the monthly Wednesday night party at TAG, which is meant to be a social gathering rather than a play party. They use the time to be together, not through acting in BDSM. \u201cShe struggles with the absences away from me for more than a few days,\u201d said Kamakazi. \u201cIf it gets past 10 days, she’s crawling up the walls. One of the things I have to do is try to teach her train her to get through those periods.\u201d<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n![\"\"](\"http:\/\/pj.rit.edu\/nppa\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/PS3_vja3416_05-1024x681.jpg\")
Kamakazi\u2019s erotic drawings are seen hanging in TAG during a time when the club members watch a football game before they start their scenes for the night. Kamakazi is an avid fan of the Buffalo Bills, being a native of Rochester, N.Y. In addition to his artwork, Kamakazi also writes erotic thrillers, which he publishes and sells on Amazon. According to him, he is currently selling 500 copies monthly.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n![\"\"](\"http:\/\/pj.rit.edu\/nppa\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/PS3_vja3416_06-1024x768.jpg\")
Dagmar poses at her home as a part of her daily ritual that she does to be connected to Kamakazi on days that she cannot be physically with him. She holds the pose for 15 minutes, but sometimes needs to do it while sitting down because her knees are weak due to recent surgery. They keep their BDSM lifestyles separate from their normal lives, where Kamakazi has a long term partner and Dagmar has a husband and multiple children. This image was created using a remote camera app due to Dagmar wanting to keep her home life private.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n![\"\"](\"http:\/\/pj.rit.edu\/nppa\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/PS3_vja3416_07-681x1024.jpg\")
Dagmar reacts to Kamakazi whipping her during a scene. \u201cI put my husband and one level and Kamakazi on another level,\u201d said Dagmar. \u201cBut there’s a different communication between us that I don’t have with my husband. Even in hard play, there is a feeling, though, there’s a love or a romantic feeling to a degree. It’s not about the lovey-kissy thing all the time. But it has to do the touch between us.\u201d<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n![\"\"](\"http:\/\/pj.rit.edu\/nppa\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/PS3_vja3416_08-681x1024.jpg\")
Kamakazi ties up Dagmar\u2019s feet during a scene together. \u201cYes,\u201d Kamakazi said. \u201cI can feel the dominancy flow through my body. I can feel the something in me become a part of me that I normally squash in the everyday world, like when I go to work and I can’t talk about any of this. I have to squash those feelings, keep them pushed down. At home, I can’t do much but when I come here, I can release all of that.\u201d<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n![\"\"](\"http:\/\/pj.rit.edu\/nppa\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/PS3_vja3416_09-1024x681.jpg\")
Dagmar waits before the collaring ceremony at TAG. The collaring ceremony makes a commitment to a long term relationship between the Dominant and Submissive. \u201cI love wearing your collar or training collar,\u201d said Dagmar. \u201cEvery time I touch it, it reminds me of you and the submissive I want to be. It gives me strength and joy. As years have passed, you’ve proven to be the only Dom I will ever want. Wearing your collar is my honor.\u201d<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n![\"\"](\"http:\/\/pj.rit.edu\/nppa\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/PS3_vja3416_10-1024x681.jpg\")
Dagmar and Kamakazi talk after the collaring ceremony at TAG on April 9, 2022. The ceremony is symbolic of a big step of commitment in a D\/s relationship, whereas the duo agree to be play partners for life. Kamakazi replaced Dagmar\u2019s training collar with a new collar around her neck to symbolize his ownership of her as her Dominant, and they both signed a 34-page contract they produced together to establish the terms of their partnership.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n
<\/div>\n\n\n\n
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SONY Portfolio Award: Ben Braun Gitner Family Award: Vincent Alban<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":5076,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":true,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[161],"tags":[166,61,22,72,17,63,23,163],"class_list":["post-5065","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-2022whatwedo","tag-ben-braun","tag-nppa","tag-photojournalism","tag-pj","tag-rit","tag-rit-nppa","tag-rochester","tag-vincent-alban","no-comments"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/pj.rit.edu\/nppa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5065","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/pj.rit.edu\/nppa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/pj.rit.edu\/nppa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pj.rit.edu\/nppa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pj.rit.edu\/nppa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5065"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/pj.rit.edu\/nppa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5065\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5086,"href":"https:\/\/pj.rit.edu\/nppa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5065\/revisions\/5086"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pj.rit.edu\/nppa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/5076"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/pj.rit.edu\/nppa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5065"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pj.rit.edu\/nppa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5065"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pj.rit.edu\/nppa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5065"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}