Combining both passion and his solid technique, LA photographer Steven Diet Goedde creates titillating works of art that capture a subtle sexiness also laced with beautiful detail. Inspired by the works of Richard Avedon, Lillian Bassman and Diane Arbus, Steve started honing in on a visual style and aesthetic at the early age of 13. With two published books under his wing, The Beauty of Fetish Volume I and Volume II, Steve continues to be at the forefront of fetish and erotic photography.

Your father was an amateur photographer in St. Louis. I assume this is where your interest in photography began?

Yes, my dad was a very serious amateur photographer. He shot black and white and used a medium-format camera for our family vacations. He had a darkroom in our basement, and that’s where he taught me how to develop and print my own images. That’s the only schooling I’ve ever had in photography.

At what age did you feel your work had reached a professional level?

The word ‘professional’ always escapes me. I do my photography because I enjoy doing it. It’s an art for me, not a commercial occupation. I feel as if I’m as ‘professional’ now as I did when I was 16, which is when I felt I had an aesthetic vision and a sense of light and composition.

So, do you consider yourself to be somewhat of a child prodigy?

Well, I think you either have an eye for photography or you don’t. I can tell by my very first family snapshots that I definitely had a unique visual aesthetic. Some of those compositional and lighting elements I still have to this day.

In your bio it states that you attended the School of the Art Institute of Chicago where you studied film and painting. However, you did not study photography. Tell us why?

When I first started art school, my main interest was film-making. Photography was something I knew I was good at but it wasn’t my main focus, nor did I feel I needed to improve what I already had. It didn’t take me long, however, to realize that I didn’t have the patience to be a film-maker. I hated being dependent on other people in order to fulfill my vision. Photography was basically a cop-out because it was easy, spontaneous, and instant! I could create a finished piece of art in one day.

Your first book entitled The Beauty of Fetish (1998) detailed your fascination of latex, leather, and PVC. How were you introduced to fetishistic fashion and please explain how you became fascinated with their textures. Also, you’ll be the first to admit that you have a thing for shoes. When did your fascination (or shall we call it a fetish) come about and what is it about the shoe that engages you.

Even as a child, I had been fascinated by tight, shiny textures on the female form. Although I’m not a bondage fan, I have a big thing for constrictive clothing. Add a shine to that clothing, and it’s a further indication that it’s as skintight as can be. I remember when I was an 8-year-old kid in the early 1970s, and I would watch out for women wearing knee-high boots which were just then coming back into fashion. I loved how the tight leather encased the calf and down to the feet. And then there was the heel! To this day I still can’t figure out why the shape of an arched foot encased in a shoe is so damn sexy.

Are there certain shoe designers that you favor?

I was always a fan of the original Little Shoe Box in London. I also love the iconic early 1990s platforms of Vivienne Westwood of which I own a few pairs. I currently have an extreme fondness for Christian Louboutin.

After your first book was published, you moved to LA and found yourself working on The Beauty of Fetish: Volume II. Chicago and LA are two different worlds. Did you find your sensibility and aesthetic change from Volume I to Volume II.

In Chicago I took advantage of a readily available industrial landscape which was often lit by a soft, overcast gray sky. Once in California, it was a lush, vibrant terrain with consistent sunny skies. I feel that no matter the backdrop, there are always certain common denominators that continue throughout my work no matter where it’s shot, what kind of light, and whether it’s in color or black and white.

You find an excellent balance between the fetishistic fashion elements you capture and the models themselves within a frame. As many photographers working in LA know, models can be selfish and want the emphasis to be on them. Talk about your casting process and communicating to a model their role.

I’m fortunate because I think models that work with me are familiar with my style so therefore there are no surprises. They also know that I’m not into extreme Photoshop manipulation and that there may actually be physical flaws in their depictions. I prefer to work with models that I’ve already worked with. Comfort is a major factor for me. I really need to feel a personal connection in order to get the kind of shots that I do. I rarely shoot with anyone that I haven’t met in person first. Ideally I like to know them as actual friends before we ever take a single photo. This can sometimes be a very long and gradual process. I’m just very real about my art and this is the process that works for me.

Do you have certain models that have become your muses or your go to gals?

Actually I don’t. I have some models that are easier to deal with and ones that are easier to photograph, but I feel every model has a unique set of qualities that contribute to each shoot. Every photographer/model relationship is unique, and it’s fun and challenging to make the best of each one.

Are there any models or celebrities that you’d like to work with in the future?

I don’t really have a wishlist of models I’d like to work with. Like I said above, each model brings their own unique qualities to a shoot, and I enjoy exploring and utilizing those aspects to make the best collaborative effort possible. In regards to celebrities, I have no real interest in shooting them unless I know them. I’ve shot a few in the past, and it was a very uneasy feeling for me. I felt there was a wall between us. I might as well have been photographing an object - a beautiful object, but with no connection or depth.

You’ve recently collaborated with Robert Waechter, concertmaster of the Philharmonic Orchestra/Opera de Nice, France to release GoeddeConcerto - a CD featuring 21 concertos inspired by 21 photographs. Tell us about the project.

Robert had contacted me as a fan last year offering his compositions for video soundtracks. Unfortunately video is a medium I’m not very comfortable with and had no real plans to make any. As a compromise, he suggested that he compose and record some concertos based on some of my still photos. He’s very much into visual/aural composition so he saw my work as a perfect match for his music. As a result of this interest, we ended up producing the GoeddeConcerto CD which is a disc of music accompanied by a 24-page booklet of the photographs the pieces are inspired by.

Tell us what’s ahead for you in the upcoming months.

I’m just going to take advantage of the summer light and do as much photographing as I’m inspired to do. I tend not to photograph much between October and April mainly because of colder weather and lack of daylight hours. I’m still hoping to publish a new book but it’s a very long and tedious project. Hopefully next year!

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