CThru.com Presents Tony Ward

Alejandra Guerrero, Los Angeles 3-10-10

……….Just before an important meeting to take place at the W Hotel in Westwood, with television executives regarding a pending project involving Tony Ward Productions, LLC, TW and his stylist/assistant Alejandra Guerrero decided to play “dress up” in his hotel room and take photos. TW was so impressed with Ms. Guerrero’s creative abilities that he invited her to the meeting and encouraged her to wear the outfit they selected for the above photo. Ms. Guerrero elected to tone it down a bit for the meeting. Word has it that the talk’s went very well………

Wall Street

Posted by Orville Robertson

……….This was Wall Street when the workers were allowed to go out and get lunch. Now I suppose they chain them to their desks to squeeze out the last drop of blood profit.

To learn more about Orville Robertson’s work log on to www.newyorkstreetphotography.com.

Erotica: The Fragrance

……….The Studio is pleased to announce that Tony Ward Productions, LLC has teamed up with Martine Brand of www.BrandIllustrations.com to develop packaging for EROTICA the fragrance by Tony Ward. We look forward to publishing this creative process and look forward as always to your suggestions and comments.

Fragrance Bottle with Top Removed

1958 Chrysler 300D

……Like many of the objects Michael Furman has photographed over the years, photographing automobiles has become a symbol of his perfectionism and unrelenting attention to light and detail. The vision he has created over 30 years has placed him atop the world’s best car photographers.

He has worked and collaborated with many blue chip automotive companies that include; Mercedes Benz, Jaguar, BMW and General Motors to name a few. He has also photographed the Ralph Lauren automobile collection as part of an exhibition and book entitled, Speed, Style and Beauty, the Cars of the Ralph Lauren Collection, courtesy of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston and recently was interviewed by another famous car aficionado, Jay Leno.

TW recently contacted Mr. Furman to ask him a few questions about his successful career.

1933 Alfa Romeo 8C 2300 Monza

MICHAEL FURMAN INTERVIEW

TW: You are nationally known as a master of photographing inanimate objects for many years. What made you turn your attention specifically to motor vehicles?

MF: About 10 years into my pro career, I felt the need to specialize, and to do so with a subject that I always appreciated. In fact, I first picked up a camera as a young boy to photograph a car.

2. What is the most unique or rare car you have ever photographed?

Many of the cars we shoot are famous or one-of-a-kind. This past summer we shot one of the six Bugatti Royales while it was in California.

3. You are obviously passionate about your love for photographing cars. Is passion the key to your success?

My great passion is for light. and my subject is cars. I find the cars and their histories fascinating. Being passionate is critical to being successful at anything.

1963 Corvette Split Window Coupe

4. Do you have any interest in photographing vehicles in motion?

Not really, I have a hard enough time capturing them when they are static in the studio.

5. Do you think GM will regain its global leadership in the production of motor vehicles in 2010?

I think GM will return as a much better company, producing much better cars. It will probably take longer than just one year. They have a lot of work to do.

6. If money wasn’t a factor which car would you drive daily?

Porsche

1951 Hudson Hornet

7. Which part on a car do you think was the most inventive post 1970s?

The addition of computers. It has allowed for extraordinary improvements in efficiency, safety and features.

8. Which car is Michael Furman driving these days for fun?

My Mini Cooper S.

9. What advice can you offer the student of photography on how to earn a living as a professional, like the Michael Furman’s of the world?

Be very dedicated to your craft. Do not accept “good enough” as your standard. Never be satisfied, and always realize that you could do better.

1941 Lincoln Continental Convertible

10. What is the most difficult task in photographing a car to meet your standards of creating a perfect image?

The control of the space in which we are shooting. The car is highly reflective, and therefore shows everything in the studio. Managing that problem is the only way to achieve quality work.

1957 Ferrari 625/250 TRC

….To learn more about Michael’s work, log on to www.MichaelFurman.com….

Mashed Up

Posted by Chantal van Duppen

……We started Mashed Up simply because we love to create worlds and bring stories to life. Life would be too boring if we did not have the chance to paint the colors more intense and bright. We are currently teaming up with a photographer, make up artist and an editor to realize our upcoming projects. We see ourselves as story tellers that direct photo shoots. Our ultimate goal is to be art directors for advertising, fashion, lifestyle and music clients. We also have our own view on life that we want to bring forward in our free work.

An image tells an unfinished story. It is up to the viewer to ask himself, what has happened and how the story finishes, because in the end the image will always belong to the viewer, and truth lies within the experience of it. We say that “we design the experience”, and “everyone has their own experience, we design yours”.

Photos by Eric Soenens

In life, we are inspired by contradictions, history, the human ego, sex, violence, instincts, urges and spirituality. In our free work we find the human flaws the most interesting and beautiful subjects to investigate. Faces, attitudes, and postures make us wonder what is hidden beyond the surface. We believe in a system of life which connects people and events tp each other. As different forms of art can be connected to each other, we came up with the name, Mashed Up, which is derived from the term “mash up” (song or composition created by blending two or more songs by overlaying the vocal track of one song seamlessly over the music track of another).

Duo

As a duo, our interests and backgrounds are interrelated. While Iris has a passion for poetry, narrative literature and dance, Chantal loves photography, film, art and graphic design. This combination makes us work well together. Furthermore, having a commercial background in marketing we have both learned to merge into a business driven environment as well.

Iris And Chantal

www.MashedUp.nl

…..to be continued….

Camden, New Jersey 2010

Posted By John Gialuco

Well Happy New Year everyone! Good news! On the last week of 2009 the Camden Courier Post announced that the murder rate in Camden was down 40%. This is wonderful news.

However on January 2, 2010, I received a phone call from Shorty at 5 am that someone broke into High Voltage Al’s house and tried to beat him up. Well Voltage, who is 73 years young, was forced to defend himself, in his own home, by beating up the perpetrator, who I will call Puffer, with a channel lock pliers.

Mr. John’s tip #1 for the New Year is that you don’t need to have a a gun in your house but a well prepared tool box… a 14 inch pipe wrench (preferably made of aluminum which is lighter for the ladies to swing), a 12 ounce claw hammer, a couple of long screw drivers (12 inches for children and 20 inches for adults) for those challenging dueling moments, a small first aid kit and a power stapler which should be plugged in at all times in your dining room. It’s a very accurate tool for those sprinters who are circling around the dining room table. Not to mention clipping the childrens drawings from school around the house. You might also want to get a small tape recorder or mp3 player. And just to keep the police on their toes, an oven timer so as to show the cops, if and when they arrive, that they took a little to long coming to your rescue.

To continue. So someone had called the cops and fortunately for Voltage, who carries a small tape recorder in his pocket, recorded the whole tussle so that when the cops arrived, in a timely fashion, he just played the recording to the police. The police told Voltage that he legally defended his life and home and so the cops proceeded to take the Puffer to jail, where he presently is (now 7 am or so on Saturday). Puffer will have to pay Voltage back all the monies for the damages, a broken window, door damage, lock replacement and some furnishings inside. The funny thing is that Puffer was staying there. You see Voltage doesn’t tolerate anyone using drugs in his home and when Voltage found a crack pipe in Puffer’s room he told Puffer to leave and Voltage changed the front door locks. This subsequently led to the break in and assault upon Voltage. Since I haven’t gone into Camden as of yet I will get a clearer story later on today. BTW thanks to Dizzy, who Amy and I celebrated New Years day with at a wonderful dinner in Chinatown, told me there was a money dispute between Voltage and Puffer brewing in the wind.

I have learned a lesson today and that is that we often get advanced notice of trouble in the air but we tend to dismiss it or not want to get involved, as I chose to do. But it came to me anyway. I didn’t feel it was my business to interfere and rightly or wrongly this event had its repercussions. I might have been able to mitigate Puffer’s anger beforehand, he certainly expressed his anger to me earlier last week…who knows? Puffer, despite his present situation, has shown me that he is a very good mechanic ( he always wanted to learn something he didn’t understand), he can repair almost anything and he always returned anything he borrowed from me. Puffer can be very responsible and direct. We all become very complex as we grow older, a mixed bag for sure. Whatever you take from this story be aware that most people, whatever their station in life, are willing to learn and make up for their wrong decisions. But it can be a tiresome process.

Live long and Prosper in our new year. Mr. John

…….To learn more about the chronicles of a Camden, New Jersey landlord, log on to www.camdenchronicles.com…………..