EDITORIAL Tony Ward's moody, erotic photographs have graced the pages of LEG SHOW for decades,
so it may come as a surprise to learn that he got his start as a corporate photographer.
After years as a contributor to magazines from Playboy to German GQ, the Philadelphia
native published his first collection of erotic photographs in 1998, Obsessions
[Edition Stemmle, Zurich, 1998]. No less an authority than-Penthouse magazine
(where Ward is a frequent contributor) declared, "Obsessions is certain to
be an instant collector's classic."
Riding the wave of global acclaim — and notoriety —.Ward went on to
publish four more books: Orgasm [Last Gasp, 2000], Tony Ward: Tableaux Vivants
[Edition Stemmle, 20021, Orgasm XL [Last Gasp, 2002] and Best of Erotica [powerHouse
books, 20051. According to his bio in Best of Erotica, "Ward began branching
out, looking for models who would travel to his Philadelphia studio to pose for
his camera and indulge their own exhibitionism. As he discovered that 'Philadelphia
may have been founded by the Quakers but is currently occupied by hedonists' new
models were soon arriving in droves. Ward's reputation as a practitioner of erotica
grew and grew, but America's Puritan past took notice and his corporate clients
trickled away." This apparent setback turned out to be a blessing in disguise,
as Ward proceeded to pursue his passions, eventually drawing the attention of
Penthouse publisher Bob Guccione. Tony Ward's work has been exhibited at Leo Castelli Gallery, New York; Les Larmes
d'Eros, Paris; the Museum fur Kunst and Gewerbe and Galerie fuer Fotografie, Hamburg;
Donkersloot Gallery, Amsterdam; Prinz Gallery, Tokyo; and Nesbitt Design Arts
Gallery at Drexel University, Philadelphia. Ward is included in the permanent
collections of the Museum fur Moderne Kunst, Frankfurt; the Eastman Kodak Collection,
Rochester; and the lnstituto Cultural Banco Santos, Sao Paulo, Brazil, to name
a few. Ward's work has been featured in Playboy, Men's Health, Style Monte Carlo,
Salon, Stern, Nerve.com, and of course, LEG SHOW.
