CThru.com Presents Tony Ward

Pascal Vanhoecke Gallery

……….The Studio is pleased to announce a group exhibition to take place at Pascal Vanhoecke Gallery, Paris from April 22 to May 29th, 2010. Artist’s included in the exhibition include; Robert Gligorov, Cheyco Leidmann, Thomas Ruff, Tony Ward, Natasha Merritt, Laurence Demaison, Lea Le Bricomte, France Cadet, Lydie Jean-dit-Pannel, Claude Menet, Richard Kern, Aurelie Dubois, Jerry Tartaglia, Jean-Jacques Guionnet, Michael Burges, and Liuba.

TW will be attending the reception…..

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

……….Throngs of people descended upon the Grand Palais in Paris yesterday to attend the opening reception of Art Paris, the largest exposition of Art held yearly in France. TW’s most recent large new work, measuring 125cm X 225cm, entitled “L’Aphrodisiaque”, a commissioned piece by sponsor Marc Dorcel was introduced to the public for the first time by art dealer and gallery owner, Pascal Vanhoecke. Capa Presse TV and several other media outlets interviewed TW about his latest creation’s and new series that he refers to as “digital montage”.The exposition dates are March 18th to the 22nd, 2010. If you are in or near Paris, the Studio highly recommends that you attend this remarkable exposition.

TW: Art Paris 3-18-10

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.

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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…………….

It is hard to believe that a decade has passed since I published my first two books on erotic photography with the charming little bookstore, La Musardine located at 122 rue du chemin-Vert, Paris. Friends in the states informed me about the renowned French publisher, and its hardcore counterpart Alixe Editions. At the time, the late 90’s, I had found an outlet for publishing my most challenging erotic work under the creative direction of Penthouse founder and publisher, Bob Guccione. Many of the pictures that were originally photographed for Penthouse, were later published in my first two volumes Ogasm and OrgasmXL, under the editorial supervision of La Musardine owner Claude Bard and his insightful assistant and Anne Hautecoeur.

My first visit to meet Claude and Anne was a short walk from my apartment in Menilmontant, through the beautiful Pere Lachaise cemetery, were many notibles were laid to rest. A short distance to the unique erotic bookstore, La Musardine is mixed in with a variety of apartments, business’s and delicious French pastry shops, that are located along the busy Parisian street, If you don’t pay careful attention as you got close to the address, you could easily walk past it, as I have on many occasions. Once you enter the shop, hundreds of books lining the walls of the quaint environment overwhelm you. Erotic titles that you would never imagine would ever be published could be found in La Musardine’s extensive library. It was an education in itself, just looking around at all the literary works and photography books published on the subjects of sex and erotica. I knew at once that I found the right publisher for my vision and erotic imagination……..