The underbelly of fetish parties has been exposed in photographs captured by Belgian photographer MagLau. The photographer dedicated three years to capturing the obsession with leather and chains, visiting fetish parties through Europe and Japan. The photographer told: “I just took pictures, always finding some beauty in the dark side”. He said that most people were happy to be photographed for the project, with the images included in a new book Fetish Ballad. Aiming to capture the candid moments, he said he never judged but instead wanted to simply observe and understand. Here: Picture from Fetish Ballad book. (Photo by MagLau/Laurent Muschel)

A Cuban migrant couple rests inside a tent at a provisional shelter in Paso Conoa, at the border with Costa Rica March 20, 2016. More than 1,500 Cuban immigrants are waiting at Costa Rica's southern border with Panama as they seek overland passage towards the United States, according to local officials. (Photo by Carlos Jasso/Reuters)

A model attends a fashion show at the “German Fetish Ball” in Berlin, Germany on May 12, 2018. (Photo by Hannibal Hanschke/Reuters)

This plane looks like it's bound for the moon as it shoots across the sky. Photographer Sebastien Lebrigand was impressed he could even see the lights on the jet's wings in this stunning silhouette. (Photo by Sebastien Lebrigand/Solent News)

The “voodoo” wrestler known as Panthère utters incantations above the alter of his shrine in Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of Congo, on July 27, 2023. In the capital of DR Congo, dozens of men and women – including former wrestlers – practice “voodoo wrestling”, using traditional fetishes and animals. Fights are organised in some of the city's poorest and most densely populated districts. (Photo by Alexis Huguet/AFP Photo)

A performer dressed as a zombie performs inside a “Zombie Shinkansen” bullet train bound for Osaka from Tokyo, inspired by the South Korean movie “Train to Busan” ahead of the Halloween season, Japan, on October 19, 2024. (Photo by Kim Kyung-Hoon/Reuters)

Visitors enjoy food at a table bounded by a banner with a character fast food restaurant Kentucky Fried Chicken, in Jakarta, Indonesia, on June 23, 2020. The display banner is useful for limiting physical distance for visitors who eat on the spot. The Indonesian government has imposed a new set of regulations known as “new normal”, which will be implemented in stages starting in early June for some provinces. (Photo by Jefta Images/Barcroft Media via Getty Images)

Migrants ride on top of a northern bound train toward the US-Mexico border in Juchitan, southern Mexico, Monday, April 29, 2013. Migrants crossing Mexico to get to the U.S. have increasingly become targets of criminal gangs who kidnap them to obtain ransom money. (Photo by Eduardo Verdugo/AP Photo)