CThru.com Presents Tony Ward

Erotic Plates

Posted by Denise Fike

Denise Fike is playfully sassy, naughty and energetic, incorporating the nuance of naiveté with the seduction of maturity. Girlish at times, painting striped legs with a terrier in tow, she quickly reminds us of her sophistication and love of wearing wide brim hats. It’s fun to watch Denise at work in her studio. She loves what she does; climbing into her painting like putting on a garment. No veneer here. She lets it all hang out. There is immediacy about her imagery; her bold line demanding our attention.

As if revealing three sides of her nature, Denise presents three distinct approaches to her work: floral, fashion and figure. She loves to draw form, specifically female form. “I just like the parts better. Men are too angular. Women are fleshier.” Opacity and palette play a great role in creating the backdrop to her figure work. Despite a monotone genre of sorts, she has the wonderful skill of conveying nuance with no gradation or shading of light. Denise’s transparent and special relationship with her models avails us to intimate visual conversation; we are keenly aware of their essence.

Very much about her materials, nearly twenty years in the wallpaper design and manufacturing industry, Denise incorporates wallpaper with figure in her “fashion” and floral paintings. Weaving figure with rich wallpaper design and patterning, she creates rich textural tapestries.

No fanfare here, minimalist even, Denise paints with enamel on canvas, wood and other found materials, preferring a toothless texture to enhance the opacity of her color fields.

She is fortunate that her relationship with her models allows for a comfort level that results in the most intimate of poses. A night of revelry, some martini’s, Gin of course, and a spontaneity, that has evolved into “The Dirty Dishes”. Buon Appetito!

To learn more about Denise Fike’s work log on to www.denisefikedesigns.com.

Happy Couple

………It is with great pleasure that we introduce to you part two of the photographs of Cuba by master photographer Eric Mencher. He’s covered regional, national and international assignments from 1987 to 2009 for the Philadelphia Inquirer, including the civil war in Chechnya, the aftermath of genocide in Rwanda and the post apartheid era in South Africa. He is the recipient of numerous national and international awards including World Press Photo, pictures of the year.

Beach Scene

Swim

A Stroll Through Havana

Marina Hemingway

To learn more about Eric Mencher’s photographs log on to www.EricMencher.com.

Castro

Posted by Eric Mencher

Cuba is truly a country on the edge. It’s government, for 50 years the authoritative body over the island’s 11,000,000 people, seems forever on the verge of collapse. The people themselves live constantly in flux, with the promise of freedom one day or prison the next. In Old Havana, people lurk in and of the shadows and the sun’s constant glare seems to ask more questions than it illuminates.

Fishing Along The Malecon

Havana is a street photographer’s paradise. The alleys and streets are a constant swarm of human activity, and moments surreal or all too real unfold in an unending stream of live theater. In the five times I’ve visited the island since 1997, there remains one constant in Cuba: the love of life, whether it’s a couple in embrace on the Malecon or kids who seem to dance in the streets to the beat of the ubiquitous music.

Cuban Music

We can learn a lot from the Cubanos–in the face of a harsh living standard, they always seem to maintain their joy, dignity and spirit.

Young Boy Plaza Of The Cathedral In Havana

Streets Of Havanna

Baseball Field In Pinar del Rio

Cuba's Light And Shadow

To learn more about Eric Mencher’s photographs, please log on to www.EricMencher.com.

TW met with his long term publisher Claude Bard and his assistant Anne Hautecoeur yesterday in Paris to review printers proofs from his forthcoming book entitled, “WASTELAND”. Mr. Bard is the owner and publisher of La Musardine, one of the most highly respected imprints of erotica in the world. TW and his publisher first teamed up in the year 2000, when his renowned book of erotica was published entitled, ORGASM, under Mr. Bard’s oversight. It was to be followed two years later by the sequel ORGASM XL.In the year 2000, TW embarked on a new project, to photograph over a period of time the largest fetish party in the world, held twice yearly in Amsterdam, thus the title of the new book and and also the name of the famous fetish extravaganza. The WASTELAND project has been the most prolonged project of the artist’s career.

The Faces Of Wasteland

Mr. Bard assured Wasteland producer Rene Meuessen during a telephone conference, that the first printing of the monograph will be made available to the public at a book signing to take place at the next Wasteland event on April 17th, 2010 in Amsterdam. TW is looking forward to attending the event.

Claude Bard

The book is dedicated to TW’s best friend and assistant Frans Verlinden. Mr. Verlinden was the former art patron, Winston Hotel owner and founder based in Amsterdam, who was at TW’s side over the many years of documentation of the event. Mr. Verlinden passed away in 2006. He is sorely missed.

Frans Verlinden: Former Owner And Founder, Winston Hotel, Amsterdam

Dutch Beauty

THE ART OF FEASTING
Posted by Mashed Up

What would happen if we human beings were not restricted? The absence of restriction would leave us with complete freedom. However, this freedom would then lose its value. We know what freedom is because we know the definition of a restriction. We appreciate freedom because we know what it feels like to be limited. But when do we feel restricted? For most of us it means that we cannot spend our time in a way we want, and generally speaking we tend to say that we are free in the evenings and weekends as we have obligations such as work during the week.

Club Life

We say things such as: “I am looking forward to the weekend” and “I am free at six”. We are eager to do something nice in the weekend because we think that our free time is valuable. We say for example, “I feel like doing something nice” or “I want to do something nice” and we go and look for it at places that provide us with ” that certain something nice”.

Free At Six

A party is a social gathering for pleasure and amusement. But what actually happens when we enter a well organized party? The music, lights and decoration will immediately appeal to our senses. We see lights, dancers and faces. We hear music and the interior and decoration surrounds us in shape. We arrive here and become a part of a different world and a different context.

Photos By Eric Soenens

……. To learn more about Mashed Up log on to www.mashedup.nl

The Trickle Down Theory

Posted by Meredith Edlow

……….What inspired me to do this work was needing a change from the usual. I grew up shooting digital photography. I didn’t do work in a dark room. I shoot pictures, upload images, make corrections on a computer, if things don’t work out with corrections you can press undo. The work was very robotic. I needed to do something more organic. I wanted to work my way out of mistakes instead of being able to press a button and start all over. It’s interesting what can be made out of something that is not going the way you want. I was looking for a new challenge, I wanted to make art that committed me to my choices. I will still shoot with my camera, I need to work and I love photography, but everything works better in moderation. I can still shoot photos and now I have another outlet, doing this “scratch” art. 

Happiness Is.....

Everything new is influenced by the past. The decade of the 80’s is inspiring people to tap into what they idolized as kids. At least, that is what my generation is doing. I really loved this art class that I had in 2nd grade. We made art out of very simple materials, paper and crayons. It left a huge impression on me and now I find myself moved to express myself in that medium.

Lightening Strikes More Than Twice

The work I’m doing has many connections. There’s a personal connection tied to the motifs of the economy. When I was a kid my Dad took a buyout from Sears and Roebuck Co. before the recession of the early 1990’s. That had a huge impact on me growing up. We moved from the big city, Philadelphia, to Yorktown, VA. My dad’s home town. A very small town. That change of living really had a huge impact on who I am now. The recent economic crisis has brought back many of those same feelings and anxieties from my childhood, hence the crayons. It all seemed to come together and make perfect sense for me. 

A Necessary Sacrifice Question

Meredith Edlow

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.

Posted by John Grant

Why you can’t call a spade a spade in this country

An op-ed in the New York Times deals with one of the most vitally important issues Americans could get their minds around — the difference between an Empire and a Republic and just who are we as a people as we deal with two foreign wars and a job-devouring recession caused by financial delusion and chicanery. Unfortunately the topic is not treated totally seriously, and the notion of an American Empire is ridiculed. I’ve encountered this attitude in a running dialogue on the topic I had with Philadelphia Daily News columnist Stu Bykofsky. Stu sneers at the notion we’re an “empire.” He’s a decent guy, and I reduce his argument with me to: “OK, if we’re supposed to be this empire, where’s the emperor in a toga?” I may be obsessive, but I think it’s a good topic for serious discussion. It’s way too easy in the dumbed-down climate of debate in this nation to ridicule the notion of Empire and, thus, of course, avoid dealing with all the real historical and political decisions that lead to the real dynamics of our current reality that suck so much of the oxygen out of our capacity to solve neglected problems. The list is long; for starters there’s a loss of jobs, a lessening of competitiveness due to shortcomings in our education system, crumbling infrastructure and an over-dependency on oil versus developing alternative, green energies — all things we should have been investing more in for the past 40 years. Now, as we are funding two on-going wars, a Global War On Terror and a dismally failed Drug War, these neglected investments at home are coming home to roost. and unless we change, it will only get worse in the future.

Natascha & Olga At The Royal Monceau, Paris

……….Natascha and Olga agreed to meet me in the lobby of the Royal Monceau where we would check in for the shoot of the day. I arrived at the check in desk only to find that the models got there earlier than me, and were waiting at the lobby bar/lounge to have a drink. Those two girls new how to get around. As soon as I noticed them seated in the lounge with drinks in hand, there were several Arab sheiks hovering around them, curious I’m sure as to who they were. Sting was having a drink at the bar just a few feet away.

Our room wasn’t ready so I joined the girls at the lounge to soak in the sights and sounds. Suddenly I heard a loud voice coming from the check in desk of a man screaming at the top of his lungs, “Where is my baggage, Where is my baggage” repeatedly. I noticed a man yelling at the concierge, it was Helmut Newton and his wife June close behind.

I immediately felt like a little boy watching a cartoon character of one of his idols in real time. at that moment, I didn’t know quite what to say or do. I was speechless. I always wanted to meet Helmut Newton and I had learned through some German contacts that he was becoming familiar with my work as well. I told the girls who he was, and they suggested that I introduce myself if the opportunity presented itself.

.

Well it did. Helmut got everything straightened out with the concierge about the missing baggage. I’m sure like any photographer he was afraid that perhaps his equipment was lost. No doubt he was probably there to do some shooting. He and June walked over to the elevator to check in to their room. That was my chance as they were just in front of me. I finally mustered the hutzpah to approach him. As I rose to my feet, the elevator door opened and Helmut and June proceeded to enter the lift. I got to the door just as it was about to close. Helmut pushed the open door button for me. That was it!

To see the entire sitting of Natascha and Olga and more Erotica from the Tony Ward archives, log on to tonyward.com

Natascha & Olga

……….I was in a meeting with my former magazine editor Dian Hanson at her Leg Show office in New York, when she casually mentioned that she was going to be photographed by Helmut Newton for this Sumo sized book that he was publishing with Benedict Taschen. It sounded like an interesting project and I was delighted to hear that Ms. Hanson was invited to Paris to have her portrait taken by the grand master.

She mentioned that Helmut was staying at The Royal Monceau on a regular basis and doing some shooting there. I also enjoy shooting in great hotels myself so Dian suggested I check it out the next time I visited Paris. It just so happened that I had already made arrangements to photograph two Russian models from St. Petersburg, on location in Paris for Penthouse a week earlier, so I decided to book a suite at the Monceau instead of my usual place, The Hotel Regina just a short cab drive away.

To be continued…………….