CThru.com Presents Tony Ward

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…………….

The Joy Of Consent

……….Please join us tomorrow as we celebrate the exhibition, “THIS IS NOT AN INVITATION TO RAPE ME” at the University of Pennsylvania, opening reception from 4:00 to 7:00 at the Fox Art Gallery-Cohen Hall. Join TW and Studio associates, as we welcome Charles Hall at the most recent installation of this ongoing International public service campaign.

Consent Lubricates Relationships

Sex Without Consent Isn't

Consent Is An Aphrodisiac

Consent Can Be Revoked

Exhibition Announcement

……….I just got back from Silicon Gallery to see the prints that are going to be hanging at PENN starting on Thursday, February 18, 2010, opening reception from 4 to 7. Charles Hall put one hell of show together. I recommend that everyone should stop by the opening if your in town. Various associates of the Studio will be there……

The Kandy Project

Posted by Lady C

It is no secret that finding the perfect partner is a daunting, perilous task.  Women expose their hearts to the world on a daily basis and hope to get them back in one piece.  And because there aren’t enough Romeos to go around, I have seen a lot of hearts in need of mending.  So many women I know have what men tend to refer to as “baggage.”  They are jealous, suspicious and insecure.  I have been through some tough relationships, and admittedly have had some baggage of my own…  I didn’t trust men, thought them all to be filthy, lying chauvinist (if one, two, three are, they all must be).  I assumed every male who engaged me in conversation had a hidden agenda (which often proved to be true).  After a particularly enraging breakup, I had the idea to swear off men…  and I began referring to myself as an aspiring lesbian.  My proclamation was half in jest, but after subjecting myself to the doings of men, I’ve almost convinced myself that my most compatible partner may actually be a woman.

  The male response to such a statement is usually, “You’ll regret it.  Women are complicated, you have no idea what dating one is like!”  Even one of my closest lesbian friends agreed that my hypothetical attempt would most likely be an unfruitful one.  But my rationalization is this:  If women are (so lovingly dubbed by men) the complicated, emotional, irrational sex, who could understand a woman better than another woman?  The only flaw in my plan, as many people have pointed out, is I am not attracted to women or even to the idea of a perfect relationship QUITE enough to desire women sexually.  Oh, I agree women are beautiful!  Throughout art history, no subject has been so admired as the female form.  I love an attractive, intelligent, powerful female just as much as the next borderline feminist…  but despite my revelations and rationalizations, my relationships with females have never become sexual.  So I began another heterosexual relationship.  And as the cycle goes, once I get fed up with being lied to and cheated on, being told I’m too sensitive or think too much, I find hope in the fact that under all my new baggage I can proudly call myself an aspiring lesbian.  -Lady C