CThru.com Presents Tony Ward

……..I first met Danny Linden on one of my first trips to Amsterdam, The Netherlands. Amsterdam is like a little village. There is an interconnectedness with everyone that I’ve met in the most liberal city on the planet. Danny was introduced to me by my close friends, Rene Meuessen and Jeroren Oosterhout, the producers of the Wasteland Party, a fetish extravaganza that I’ve been documenting for the past decade in the fall and spring of each year.

On one of my earliest trips, Rene introduced me to Ms. Linden at The Super Club, a marvelous dinner theater/night club in the heart of the city. Danny and I hit it off right away and became friends. She also has commissioned me to produce a number of catalogue shoots for her famous boutique, Absolute Danny, located at Oudezijds Achterburgwal 78 in the heart of the Red Light District. She is one of the sexiest women in Holland and a dear friend of the studio.
Over the past few years Danny has been busy creating rubber clothing under her own ABSOLUTE DANNY label.

Tony Ward Studio For Absolute Danny

To learn more about Danny Linden, log on to www.absolutedanny.com…………

Absolute Fetish

www.AbsoluteDanny.com

Amanda

…….. The studio was contacted by the creative director for one of the largest gentleman’s clubs in the area, to produce a new regional advertising campaign. Five dancers who worked regularly at the club were hand picked by the CD to model for TW during the production. One of the models was a standout, a fashion thin blond by the name of “Amanda” .

Amanda Wearing Victoria's Secret

She is a twenty year old natural beauty who just recently entered the adult entertainment industry.

Tony Ward Studio

After the production for the club was complete, TW carefully reviewed Amanda’s photographs and realized she would be the perfect model for one of his ongoing book project’s entitled, Fashion/Fetish. He imagined her long slender legs in a pair of black fishnets supported by a five inch heel.
These are the first pictures ever published of Amanda and the first nudes she has ever allowed to be taken. It is our pleasure to introduce this lovely, personable beauty to our readers…..

……..I had just left the studio for a brief walk to have lunch with a new model when I heard a scream from the backseat of a passing taxi. “Tony, Tony, Tony” she said as I noticed a waive from the passing vehicle. I quickly turned, a familiar face for sure, but couldn’t precisely place the context. The taxi came to a stop. A very attractive woman exited the vehicle and proceeded to run towards me as if in slow motion. My heart started to pound as the day suddenly became more exciting and invigorating.

I remembered who she was. Natalie, a stunning brunette that I photographed several years earlier told me it was such a coincidence to see me that day, because she was just talking to her girlfriend about my work and that she wanted to introduce me to her. I said, “sure just call the studio to set up an appointment.” That answer wasn’t good enough for Natalie. She insisted right then and there that I go with her to meet her friend, who was working just down the block from where I was about to have lunch.
We hurried to her friend’s place of employment, a classy restaurant in the heart of town where she worked as a hostess. Natalie insisted once I saw her, I wouldn’t be disappointed. She guaranteed that i surely would want to photograph her, and also mentioned that her friend had a desire to have nude photos taken. We entered the restaurant. I sat at the bar in anticipation to meet the new subject.
When she entered the room, it was almost if all the air had left it. I could already see through the clothes as my imagination transported me to an erotic journey with the woman I just met. I did everything to maintain my cool as I became instantly infatuated.
The new subject explained that she had been talking to Natalie about having erotic pictures taken to present as a gift to her boyfriend. The couple were recently engaged to be married. Because of her employment status, I suggested it would be wise to create a pseudonym for the set of pictures, as I was certain the pictures would be published. Norma Rockwell came to mind, as she reminded me of a character that could easily appear in a perverse version of a Norman Rockwell painting.

Norma In Love

Norma and I made arrangements to meet at a small, charming hotel where the photographic sitting would take place. I asked her to bring a few pieces of lingerie from her wardrobe for the erotic encounter.
As soon as we checked in to our room I asked Norma to put some of her items on the bed. I picked a few things knowing whatever we selected had to accentuate her statuesque body. The shoot progressed innocently at first and then the sexual persona of Norma took over as she began to gently play with her genitals. All for the love of a man she was soon to marry…….TW

Jackie Strain

……..It started off as a rather inauspicious day. I was just finishing up having breakfast with my mother at her home in Elkins Park. At 89 years of age she, can’t get around like she used to, so she has a nurses aide visit her at home to take care of some of her needs a few hours a week. Mother mentioned at breakfast that she was expecting a new aide in just a few minutes, and she wanted me to meet her.

Moments later as I was clearing the breakfast table, there was a knock at the door, enter a young attractive woman dressed in a nurses uniform ready to tend to mother’s needs. This is how I met Jackie Strain. Ms. Strain was aware that I am a photographer and mentioned with discretion that she moonlighted as a model in between her full time nursing job and was particularly interested in my work. Needless to say she didn’t mention any of this to mother.
She contacted the studio to arrange a meeting after work one day to discuss her modeling interests.
Nursing was fine, it paid the bills, but Jackie expressed a yearning for something more exciting in her young life. The thought of nude modeling exhilarated her and would be a way to release her hidden desire to celebrate and exhibit her youthful body.
She expressed immediate interest in working together, which resulted in the creation of a number of memorable pictures…….

TW

……Steffi and TW met over the internet when a friend of hers suggested she have a look at his website at tonyward.com. After perusing the site, she contacted the studio via email, sending along a few pictures of herself taken by a former boyfriend, as well as a few pictures from her work as a fashion model in her native Germany. We were impressed with her stature and unusually long legs.

Standing just over six feet tall, she reminded us of so many German girls that Helmut Newton worked with throughout his career. Steffi kept in touch for several months and eventually made plans to meet up with Tony in Hamburg for a test shoot.
The night before the sitting they got together for an evening on the town. TW was delighted to discover Steffi’s English was quite good, enabling them to enjoy each others company, as that is usually a good sign of a successful sitting and a great set of pictures.
Our producer in Hamburg Suzaan Talib found the perfect setting for the shoot; the oldest bordello in Hamburg which has been in continuous operation since the early 1900s. The madam and owner of the old establishment were gracious enough to give us the run of the place for several hours, while customers were coming and going. To their bemusement we repeatedly had to tell them that Steffi was not there to service them, they wished…….

www.StephanieVovas.com

…..We’ve had our eye’s glued to this image since we first discovered the work of LA based photographer Stephanie Vovas, whose work we’ve featured recently. It is very different from most of the other pictures on her repertoire, in that the identity of the person in the photograph remains a mystery, hidden unlike most of her pictures which are more portrait like. We asked her to write a brief commentary on how she arrived at creating this image, the mystery surrounding the photograph. In her own words, Stephanie offers us a glimpse in to her creative process at work……

Posted by Stephanie Vovas

Serena was my muse I guess you could say for many years until she moved away to New York City. Something between us matched as we felt free to play together. I guess we provoked each other creatively, her showing sides of herself, and me experimenting beyond my normal boundaries. It was a sort of fearless collaboration and there was great trust between us. I love how open, strong and confident she is. I wish I could find 10 Serena’s.

The picture just came about organically, we were spending a few hours together trying on different things. Then she put on those red underpants. I suggested we go into the garage where my sister stored this great old BMW. I pulled it onto the street, put the headlights on, and it was raining outside. For some reason those red underpants seemed like they went perfectly with the car. I walked behind the model and there was the picture.

Wasteland Book Release Spring 2010

…..Right about now, thousands of Europeans are doing last minute shopping as they prepare their outfits for the twice yearly pilgrimage to Amsterdam, to attend the massive fetish party Wasteland tomorrow night in Amsterdam. Party organizers predict attendance to peak at around 4000 revelers for the well organized event. TW has been documenting the party for the past 10 years and is pleased to announce that he will be publishing a long awaited series of documentary photographs of the extravaganza in the Spring of 2010. For those of you who can make last minute plans to travel to Amsterdam we highly suggest you attend. You will never forget it! Dress code is required……

www.Wasteland.nl

Post by Corey Armpriester

CA-Can an artist be successful without an agent or gallery representation?
TW-That’s a problem with the art scene over the past 10 to 20 years. The galleries and the collectors became the power brokers in the art world instead of the artists and the artist almost became secondary to the art. You don’t need a big name gallery a big name museum or a big name collector verifying your importance; that is something you have to establish yourself and that is what will draw your audience, not the other way around.

CA-Why do you live in Philadelphia?
TW-This is where I was born and raised and I have family here and I’m a very family oriented person, Philly is home.

Family, assistants

CA-Do you think having a family hinders the artist in any way as far as resources and time that can be given to the work?
TW-No question, that was one of the hard things about my marriage and raising a family. It’s always an underlying drive, the work comes first. Any artist of merit will say the Art comes first.

CA-How does your family deal with that and what is the consequence?
TW-The consequence in my case is divorce. Unfortunately my 23 years of marriage to my wife Sandy has started to unravel through divorce proceedings. It’s an unfortunate circumstance.

CA-Do you ever allow the assistant to take the photograph?
TW-No, my assistants generally take care of my post production needs and they also help me on the actual shoot, but I never give them the responsibility of taking the shot and then me putting my name to it; that would never happen.

CA-Is there something unethical about that?
TW-No, Andy Warhol had the factory; it’s really up to the individual artist to decide.

CA-Do you practice sex magic?
TW-I’m not gonna get into my personal sex life.

CA-What? Tony Ward is afraid to talk about sex!?
TW-I’m not afraid to talk about sex. I think there’s a thing called love and I think there’s a thing called sex and the two are not necessarily the same; does that answer your question?
CA-Yes.

CA-Is the Muse necessary?
TW-The Muse is like having coffee in the morning.

CA-Is feminism contributing to the destruction of the family?
TW-No, I don’t think feminism is the thing that destroys families, there’s a lack of a long term commitment.
CA-People will be surprised that Tony Ward is coming to the defense of feminism; that’s very bizarre.
TW-I’m not committed to the idea of feminism. Who am I to say a feminist viewpoint is right or wrong. What I prefer to do is through my work ask more questions about a variety of cultural issues.

CA-Is photography stupid?
TW-Photography is simple, not stupid; even with all the cameras out there people still take very mundane pictures that don’t need to proliferate the planet. In the proper hands, it’s really a rewarding medium.

CA-Could you talk about light?
TW-There’s no such thing as good light or bad light

CA-Artificial and natural light are equal?
TW-There’s no mandate from the art gods indicating what type of light one should work with.

CA-Amsterdam is
TW-My second home.

CA-Do you have a favorite coffee shop and do you eat Space Cakes?
TW-No, no Space Cakes for me. I know too many Dutch friends that have carted Americans off to hospitals because of those space cakes.

CA-One Space Cake is not going to send you to the hospital.
TW-I know that Mick Jagger has been taken back to the hotel on occasion.

Part 3 of the interview will be posted tomorrow…..

The Art of Corset Making

…..The art of corset making has been around for hundreds of years. The word “corset” came in to general use in the English language in 1785. In fashion, the corset is generally used to trim the waist in an effort to enhance the bust and hips. The best fitting corsets are generally made by a corsetmaker, especially fitted for the individual who is wearing it.

Delicious Corsets

Psydde Delicious and Amy Schmitz founded Delicious Corsets in 1995. Both graduates of Philadelphia’s College of Textiles and Science where they studied fashion and textile design. They applied their education and talent to an exciting and successful made to order corset making enterprise, now in it’s 15th year.
If your in to the art of corset making, the studio highly recommends that you learn more about their offerings at www.deliciouscorsets.com……..

Isabella Reneaux

…..The beautiful 19 year old contacted the studio via email about a year before we got a chance to meet her. It was a rainy day in New York. TW agreed to meet her for lunch at Balthazaar in SOHO. He was impressed by her bravado, street smarts and a desire to make money as a fashion model in the big city. While growing up in Atlantic City, New Jersey, Isabella dreamed of becoming a professional model.

Petite Reneaux

Because of her stunning looks and perfect proportions , photographers began to take notice. That enabled her to build a respectable body of work, which led to a variety of fashion assignments, including turns on the runway during fashion week.

Isabella began receiving requests from photograhers to model in the nude. She was not adverse to the idea and ultimately contacted the studio to arrange for a sitting with TW, naturally he was interested.

Isabella, Sunset Marquis, Los Angeles

After lunch they agreed to the parameters of the shoot. Isabella considers herself more of a striptease model and had no desire to show pink, preferring instead to leave something to the viewer’s imagination. Although petite, she knew how to pose in a way to highlight her most formidable physical asset, her natural shapely breasts. Because of her perfect proportions and shapely legs, Isabella quickly became this studio’s favorite petite model……