Andrew Blake

The membership area, not unlike the tour, is sleek, professional, and full of glossy photos of glamorous models engaging in all sorts of nasty business. Similarly, you get the feeling they're still selling us a bit, too — like that reminder that members are eligible for a "20% discount at the store." However, the rest of the newsfeed does contain vital information, with a stream of constant updates about the latest shoots and newest models. And for such a "busy" page, they've laid it all out neat enough that finding your own fantasy should be a smooth, painless process; there's two sets of menus and a search engine on the left-hand side of the page, as well as an additional drop-down menu in the center. The latter seems to be a melding of the most vital categories from the former two.

I can personally attest to the strength of this setup. The first thing I did upon login was seek out something to jerk off to. But before I had a chance to unzip, I found myself admiring Andrew's vast body of work. Since the site launched in late '09, they've stayed pretty consistent with a fast-paced update schedule, adding a new film every 3 days and new sets faster than I can keep track of. Going back to the films, though, since that's what I, for whatever reason, initially gravitated toward, I have to say I was quite impressed. With Andrew Blake having such a reputation as a photographer, I wasn't sure quite what to expect. However, I was pleasantly surprised to find more than just gorgeous cinematography. I saw women smoking, sticking objects up their own anuses, sucking each others toes — sucking greasy dicks, too. And, perhaps a testament to his fashion photography roots, they all looked absolutely beautiful doing it — and also had that glazed, almost bored, look in their eye you often see on the runway. Oddly, I find this hot.

And just in case you're wondering about the digital quality — which could easily betray even the best of artists — each scene can be streamed in 3 resolution sizes: High, Medium, and HD. They all look great, and better still, these options are consistent going all the way back to the first update. Each scene is also accompanied (surprise, surprise!) by a nice selection of expertly shot stills, as well as a synopsis and cast list.

I figured I'd save the photos for last, since that's what Blake is known for. Like the videos, we get a wide variety of action — everything from film-noir esque beauties smoking cigarettes to full out BDSM, complete with whips, chains, and antiquated torture devices. And while this all is, admittedly, somehow "softer" feeling than your run of the mill hardcore, you could still almost picture at some of your filthier megasites. But even if he totally surrendered to the darkside, his work would likely still seem out of place in those establishments. This is mostly due to Mr. Blake's tremendous sense of sensuality — and, of course, his obvious compositional skills. Put all these things together, and you just feel like you're looking at something "different" or even "special."

One of my favorites involved a model named Julia Taylor; the acts within, and even the setting, was reminsence of amateur than arthouse — you know, a couple in a cramped bedroom trying out new positions, usually while being overly conscious of the camera. But what really made it stand out — aside from the obvious precision — was a haunting image at the end which showed the girl's face covered in glistening trails of goo, her eyes wide, dead, lifeless. I'm not sure what it means, but I do know one thing: it makes my dick hard.

You'd expect such fine galleries to have a whole host of high-res options, fancy slide-shows, and some ZIPs to-go, too — and you'd be wrong. Unfortunately, the photos are only available in one resolution size. Admittedly, it's quite nice(1,027 x 600 pixels) but not as big as I'd expected, and either way, there should have been more. Worse still, they've made it quite difficult to even download these shots individually. I understand protecting your content, but this is a bit much.

The same could be said for videos, which offer absolutely nothing in the way of downloads. So, if had any intention of adding Mr. Blake's work to your collection, you can forget about that. Unless you want to pay for it, anyway.

Another area that left me feeling a little disappointed was the total lack of any sort of model index. Knowing Mr. Blake's penchant for working with high caliber models, it seems like a given that you'd have a little extra info on them. They've really missed the ball here.