Vintage Visions

John Alexander Scott Couts (John Willie)

1902-1962

Coutts was born in Singapore and grew up in England.

In the mid-1930s, he began working for a Sydney-based fetish club as an illustrator and photographer; around this time he began a relationship with Holly Faram, one of his models, and they married in 1942.
Around 1945-47 Coutts moved to New York City via Montreal, in order to publish his bondage and fetish magazine Bizarre; Holly chose to remain in Australia. At this time he adopted the name 'John Willie'

As a bondage artist he is best known for his character Sweet Gwendoline. After publishing 20 issues of Bizarre he moved to Hollywood, California. He developed a brain tumor in 1961 and was forced to stop his mail order business. He destroyed his archives and returned to England, where he died.

Books to buy

Click on image to view complete album