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…..Kalina Isato always wanted to be an artist, but conservative Asian parents squelched her early dreams. They were not supportive of her interest in studying the Arts, and like many parents didn’t see an upside to studying Art in college. They encouraged her instead to study the Sciences, particularly computer science and engineering while pursuing her creative endeavors of photography and music production on the side. Her accomplishments in the sciences would make any parent proud, graduating from Boston University with a BA and MA in Computer Science in 1989, Magna Cum Laude and Phi Betta Kappa. During that same period, she completed an advanced course in logic programming at Harvard University.

All along Kalina continued to pursue her interest in the Arts and used the photographic medium as a vehicle to express herself, and her unique place in subcultural America. She’s currently studying photography at the University of Pennsylvania where the studio was recently introduced to her work. In her own words, Ms. Isato describes her current body of work and how the series “Clublife” evolved. This particular grouping of pictures is currently on display from November 8th to December 31, 2009 at the William Way Community Center, 1315 Spruce Street, Philadelphia, Pa. To learn more about Ms. Isato’s work log on to www.KalinaIsato.com.

Posted By Kalina Isato

“Throughout most of my life, I knew that I was born different and it wasn’t until my teenage years that I came to terms with my transgender nature and started creating the image that people see today. Every time I go out bar or club hopping, I always take pictures to document the night. I never conscientiously wanted to create a public exhibit of my work, but over time the number of pictures I took and the fact that I was able to capture candid scenes – because my subjects were comfortable with me – convinced me that what I was creating was too important to keep in a scrapbook all to myself.

My meticulousness made math and science easy for me and when it came time to study photography formally in 2007, I was prepared to handle all of the technical demands that photography requires.

I believe that being both artistic and technical, I see things that some people who focus soley on one or the other cannot see.

I rarely mention my honors anymore, because it make me sound like a true geek:).

Posted by Charlene Lanzel

I used to do target practice in my driveway as a kid. We had a BB gun… and also a pellet pistol. I preferred the pistol. I suppose this painting has some deep hidden psychological meaning. Perhaps that I have always felt like a target. Like prey. Some men make me feel that way, when they leer at me on the street. It’s like they’re foaming at the mouth. I find that very disturbing. Sometimes I feel like I need protection. And then, I remember those days of doing target practice in my driveway.

….. The trip to Amsterdam was winding down after several days of continuous shooting. I arranged my schedule so that I could take the last couple of days off to relax with friends before heading back to the states. It just so happened that on my day off, a huge soccer match was being played in town. Everybody was in a good mood in anticipation of the colossal sporting event. If you have never been to Holland during a Champions League match, its like a Major League playoff baseball game in the states, but way more intense. There was a heightened sense of national pride in the atmosphere while most of the country stopped everything they were doing to watch the contest on television.

I decided to return to a sports bar that I had visited on a prior trip, where I could get a good bite to eat, enjoy the match and throw down a few Heineken’s in between the roar of the crowd. I also recalled the last time I visited just a few months earlier, the bartender was gorgeous and my instincts were telling me she would be a welcomed addition to the pages of Penthouse magazine.

As I entered the establishment I was in luck, there she was again. I noticed the pale skin, long blond curly hair through the thick smoke filled atmosphere. The raucous mostly male crowd, hardly seemed to take notice of the native beauty. I meandered towards the bar where she was serving and grabbed the last seat available just as the match began.

After a few moments she approached and immediately recognized me from the last time I visited.

She was friendly like most of the Dutch women that I have encountered in the past. I explained to her that I was a photographer and producer for Penthouse America and proceeded to show her a portfolio of sample images on my cell phone. Cellular internet access is a very useful tool for the traveling photographer. She was impressed and agreed to meet me at my hotel for a sitting after work.

After the match, I quickly rushed back to my hotel suite to prepare the room and my equipment for her arrival.

Her shapely figure is a result of many years of classical training in dance, her true passion.

I look forward to many more shoots with this Dutch beauty……..TW

…..On November 19th, 2009, I was invited to lecture at the University of Pennsylvania’s, Body class taught by Fine Arts Photography instructor, Gabe Martinez. Meeting with a lively group of Ivy League fine arts students resulted in a continuing dialogue with a few of the aspiring photographers. I found the exchange to be so personally inspiring, that I asked a few of the them to allow me to publish our ongoing dialogue, along with some samples of their work. Here are a few excerpts from our recent conversations…..TW

Dear Tony,

You spoke to my Body photography class this afternoon. I am the student who asked “what are you trying to say with your work?”. I asked because answering this question, in regards to my own work, has become a personal struggle lately.  

Like you, I like to photograph beautiful women in beautiful places, and before I came to Penn, that used to be enough (so long as my images were technically profound). Here, it seems there is more of an emphasis placed on the message behind the images than on the actual successful execution of the photography. In other words, instead of discussing the success of the composition, or lighting, or even the subject matter – critiques seem to focus on “What the artist is trying to say”. I’m sure this experience will only make me a stronger artist, but after years of being critiqued on the overall aesthetic quality of my photos, these new critiques that often label my work as being “just pretty”,  have served to be quite discouraging. I feel as if my understanding of “good” photography has been completely wrong all along, and that I don’t have the angst (or something) to be an artist in the 21st century. 

I’m writing to you because I want to tell you how much I enjoyed your work today. Your images are both provocative and so crushingly beautiful. I’m intrigued by how you achieve both of these effects in your work. Hearing your response to my question inspired me to dig a bit further for the message behind my own work. Is it not enough to want to capture the beauty, the sensuality of a women in her youth? The thrill of being young and in one’s prime? What if all I want to say with my work, is “Look at her- she’s beautiful”? 
I guess, when you spoke about finding and filling a niche in the art world, I began to understand what my process is lacking.  If I want to be a respected artist, I need to be saying something new. And yes, it is possible to do this with beautiful images, as you do.  

Anyway, you should know that you’ve inspired me to start thinking about this. I would love to help you with the feb/march art show, or with any other assignments/projects that you find you could use some extra help with. I’m going to attach some of my own photography. Take a look if you get the chance.  

Thank you again. 
It was truly wonderful and inspiring to meet you,

Ayasha Guerin 

TW: Hello Ayasha, Clearly you have absorbed many of the comments and suggestions that I discussed in yesterdays lecture. It seems as though you’ve reached an analytical crossroads in your artistic pursuits which is often a good thing. You have set a good precedent for how you will use the camera to move forward in your next body of work. “Look at her-she’s beautiful” could form the basis of a powerful survey of how beauty is defined in America in the 21st century. Keep asking yourself intellectual questions and your photographic works will lead you to visual answers that transcend the practical issues of light and shadow.

Dear Tony,
I’m currently working on a new piece, also pertaining to the
female body. I will show it to you as soon as its done! I would also like to
continue to stay in contact with you, I am currently trying to pursue a
future as a commercial photographer, starting with applying to graduate
school to get my MFA in photography and continue my studies.

I’d love to get your perspective on the current field of photography,
both commercial and fine arts, and how I could make a name for myself in the future.
I admire what you’ve done, and I’d love to have a chance to learn from what you did
and how you got there. Its great to see a photographer that can succeed in
the commercial world while still having a say in the fine arts world. Often
I get sick of seeing the same photograph, the same advertising picture, the
same models wearing pretty clothing or pretty shoes, and its refreshing to
see new takes on it (like fashion fetish).

Kateryn Silva

Hi Tony,

I wanted to thank you for coming to our class on Thursday. Your lecture, and the subsequent lecture we saw by Olaf Breuning brought up a very interesting question for me about art and entertainment. I feel like a lot of the images that I did for my class this semester were very much in the realm of attempting to entertain the viewer, rather than trying to project any specific message. Do you think that the art world has a place for people who are more focused on entertainment, or does there have to be a serious or important message in your work in order for it to be relevant? 

I also had a personal question about your own work. Most of the more, as Gabe would call it, “naughty” work that you showed us seemed to come from Amsterdam and outside of the United States. Have you ever considered looking for sexual subcultures in the United States, or is it harder to find people who are that open/out there?

Best,
Alex Remnick

Hi Alex,  It really depends on how the artist wants to be perceived by the viewers of his or her work.  There are plenty of examples of both approaches scattered throughout photographic history.    Celebrity portraiture and the paparazzi for example created a cottage industry within  the photographic medium.  George Hurrell’s celebrity portraits were so well done in the early part of the 20th century, the pictures were considered to be “high art” influencing others to follow.  The paparazzi, Ron Gallela became famous for stalking Jackie Kennedy, purely for the entertainment value to sell his images to magazines, yet his pictures have been exhibited in galleries and some of his work to be sure has been collected by the art connoisseur.  The artist has to set the precedent for how his or her work is perceived.  If you don’t take your work seriously, the general public will not either, both approaches coexist.
    Actually most of my collection has been photographed in the United States, in the major cosmopolitan centers, Los Angeles, New York, Philadelphia, Miami etc..  Most of the pornographic material produced and distributed worldwide is created write out of the Los Angeles area.  Many of the pictures I have produced for the top adult publications ,Playboy, Penthouse, Hustler etc..were created through sources I have here in Philadelphia.  I hope this information is helpful.  All the best,  TW

Posted by: Gunsmoke
I admit it. I went into my first Mixed Martial Arts tournament with a closed mind and a prejudiced point of view. I am a pacifist. I hate fighting. ( Can’t stand ice hockey for the same reason. Who likes the looks of blood oozing down the ice anyway?) But I went. I promised myself to watch at least one of the twelve matches and try to understand what the hype was about this Brazilian Judo stuff anyway.
The first bout left me cold. It was more like boxing than judo. The fighters were stiff and uncertain in their moves. Some kind man explained to me that this was the amateur hour and if I waited patiently it would improve. I sat. I waited. Several more fights followed. Each got a little more interesting as the boxing was combined with kick boxing and then wrestling. Each match became more titillating as the bodies of the fighters improved. It was like watching one of those before and after ads for how to tone up a flabby physique. By the end of the evening when the experienced amateurs and professionals climbed into the cage I was finally looking at some male pulchritude I could appreciate.

I think what I saw was as close to human cock fighting as I will ever experience. A relatively small cage kept the two fighters and the referee from fleeing out the door. They were captives in a cage with nothing to do but test each others agility and endurance. Their bodies were cut, ripped, toned and beautiful to behold. They were so full of energy that it literally burst from their pores. They danced around each other getting the feel of the ring and the moves of their opponents. And then they dove…straight into each others torsos and I was hooked!
Arms flailed and legs wrapped around waists in scissor grips. Bodies were slammed into the floor and rolled against the wall of the cage. I was sitting on the edge of my seat. I was standing. I was experiencing each thrust, each grab, each roll. I could see the sweat. I could feel it on my own body. I groaned when it seemed the pain was too much to bear. Oh my god! I was groaning out loud. It was as visceral and sexual a sensation as I had experienced in public. Then it was over and I was exhausted. I can’t truthfully say I enjoyed watching the bloody nose as one fighter pummeled another. But I can say that I was fascinated in a macabre way. This was an experience. Like watching a dance or being caught up in the thrill of the crowd. I’m still trying to understand my reactions and my emotions. Maybe in time I will. I just know that I saw something physically moving and thoroughly exciting….in a cage…with controlled violence. It was awesome.

…..Jennifer Tilly began her acting career in 1983 at the age of 25 appearing in small roles on television. She had a regular role on Hill Street Blues, playing the part of a mobster’s widow. She appeared as Garry’s lover on It’s Garry Shandling’s Show, and was cast as a high end prostitute for a brief run on the comedy series, Key West. Ms. Tilly’s big screen breakthrough role, was as a singing waitress in The Fabulous Baker Boys, and shortly after played a small part in the cult classic horse racing movie, Let it Ride with Richard Dreyfuss and Teri Garr. She was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for her role as a hopelessly bad actress in Woody Allen’s, Bullets Over Broadway in 1994.

In recent years Jennifer has turned her attention to high stakes poker play and won a World Series Poker bracelet in the ladies No-Limit Texas Hold ‘Em event, outplaying 600 other gamblers. In a television interview, Tilly stated that at this point in her career she is more passionate about pursuing poker purses than acting. As of 2008 her live tournament winnings have exceeded &450,000. In the December, 2008 edition of industry magazine Bluff she stated, “I love poker but greatness in poker is an elusive dream. There are too many variants. Trying to find validation in poker is like trying to find a virgin in a whorehouse. I’m not giving up poker entirely, gambling is an addiction after all. I’m just going to treat it more like a hobby and less like a career.” A varied career path for sure……

……..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

…….. Lexi Love arrived on set in Los Angeles about two hours early to have her hair and make up done by Lee Garland, the famous Hollywood makeup artist to the stars of the adult film industry. Small, petite and very unassuming when you meet her, Lexi is the epitome of professionalism when she arrives to perform her scene. Born in 1980, of Sicilian and German descent, she started acting in erotic films in September of 2004 at the age of 23. Lexi has lived for many years in San Francisco where she studied chemical engineering before entering the adult entertainment business.

Her unassuming nature was quickly transformed in to the sexual diva that made her famous when our conversation turned to the script for the twenty minute clip we were to create that day. Lexi appeared in scene three of the film the studio produced and directed titled; Nylon Nymphomania, for the Private Media Group, based in Barcelona, Spain.
Lexi currently owns and operates her own adult entertainment company, Lexi Love Entertainment and is trade marked by the United States government…….

……Catherine Keszei honed her skills while studying at the Minneapolis College of Art and Design. A rising star in graphic design who works out of studios between New York and Philadelphia. She has the effusive energy of a young artist who has already developed a distinctive style, a result of her sponge like ability to understand complex cultural issues that merges in to the simplest stroke of her pen, in an effort to solve a variety of sophisticated visual problems from demanding clients. Her drive and ambition is overflowing with a variety of expertise in the area’s of Adobe Photoshop, Illustrator, Indesign, and tactile mediums and has recently expanded into video design and compositing. Catherine is also proficient with Final Cut Pro the primary editing choice of the movie making industry. A formidable skill set to say the least.

The studio is pleased to announce that Catherine will be joining forces with us on a variety of upcoming projects. To learn more about Catherine’s work log on to www.catherinekeszei.com……….

…..Several weeks ago a controversy was raised by the posting of a Lexington Steele portrait in repose on Facebook by this studio. It was brought to our attention from a reader of our blog that posting the nude photo was a violation of Facebook policy. The posting was removed from Facebook immediately. It is not the intention of this studio to challenge the rules and regulations of Facebook. However it is important to note that we have witnessed countless violations of Facebook policy floating around on various user accounts, not the least of which was a recent poll being taken on Facebook as to whether or not President Obama should be assassinated. The controversial poll reached a fever pitch and landed on the news desk of national media at which time the secret service rightly so asked Facebook executives to shut the poll down.

The language that was used by the reader of our blog, the subsequent posting of the image on Facebook and the way that he described his reasoning for the removal of the image, raised questions about the use of language as it applies to issues of sex, gender and race in our society. We asked several guest bloggers to respond to the comments that were made. Here is the statement that raised the controversy; “I’m sure no one has had occasion to find fault with any of the intriguing photos you post on Facebook, including those that violate the Facebook policy of No Nudity. When my wife and I look at our Facebook pages at home, our daughter is often nearby, I had a bit of trouble explaining to a 5 year old why there was a picture of a dark man with no clothes on. When it comes to full frontal shots, please dial it back a bit.”

The response from the guest bloggers were published in an earlier post and were not colored by a studio mandate or objective. The person who wrote the statement took offense to the response from our guest’s and sent the following rebuttal which we agreed to publish unedited and has chosen to remain anonymous.

“This is a follow up to a recent post on your blog regarding a photo that you put on your Facebook page.  The event deserves a bit of analysis.  First, you posted a full frontal shot of a naked man on a family-friendly webpage (and it’s a major challenge to my powers of belief to think that someone with your intelligence was unaware of the Facebook policy against nude photos, but right now I don’t want to pile additional allegations on top of the ones I’m about to discuss).  After the photo was posted, as you note on your blog, “…the studio received a number of email comments in reference to the post,” and I’m willing to bet that most of them were negative and made you feel uncomfortable.  At that point, the ethical and responsible thing to do would have been to acknowledge that your action offended some people, and the appropriate response would have been to apologize to the people who you made uncomfortable.  Instead, you decided to see if you could get around it, possibly by recontextualizing your action as artistically or culturally justifiable. 
 
You sent me an email saying that “Your recent comments about the Lex posting created an opportunity to get reactions from guest bloggers that review the site daily.”  The accurate, scientific, and ethical approach in researching people’s reactions to your posting of the photo on Facebook would have been to survey several dozen randomly selected Facebook users (including professional artists), and to post their thoughts.  But instead, you hand-picked some friends who you knew would agree with your perspective.  Referring to yourself in the royal editorial first person plural, you said, “We asked guest bloggers, Mikel Elam, Yoko Grosshans and Atomic Bombshell to read the email and offer comments in response…” You posted my objection and then printed the disparaging comments written by your associates, all of which belittled my opinion and created the impression of substantiating your position.  In doing so, you seemed to want to imply that any objections to what you did, as exemplified in my original quoted statement, were erroneous, provincial, reflective of outmoded values, and not worth taking seriously.  So in your blog, using my words as a general target and your friends’ opinions as ammunition, you dissed the values and perspectives of the people like me who complained.
 
Note that I did not fault your use of the Steele photo by commenting on it in a public arena such as Facebook; as I recall, no one else did either.  Yet you arranged for the faulting of my opinion in the very public arena of your blog.  Instead of responding to me in private, one on one and man to man, you chose to set up my opinion so that it would be publicly insulted.  The fact that the maligning of my words did not involve the mention of my name, and that the derogatory statements were written by “guest bloggers” rather than by you, makes no difference.  My words are an extension of myself just as the photos you create are an expression of you.  When you cause my words to be defamed in order to disdain my perspective, that’s a personal affront.  You could have prevented the entire incident from becoming a public display if you wanted to.  But again, I believe you wanted to vindicate yourself on a larger scale, whether you were consciously aware of it or not.
 
The crux of the problem as it affected me stems from the fact that you quoted colleagues who clumsily used several misleading and flawed argumentation formats known as the Straw Man Fallacy and the Ad Hominem Error. Each of these deflects attention away from the main issue—in this case, violating website regulations that reflect cultural norms—by instead casting aspersions on the character of the person expressing the opposing view.  Thus, at this point, the “guest comments” turned into personal attacks.  Although you presented me as an anonymous commentator, that doesn’t matter.  You and I know that I was the one whose character you allowed to be vilified with slanderous terms such as hypocrisy and racism—and in regard to the latter, permit me to quote and respond to the colorful language used by one of my detractors: “Mandingo Syndrome” my ass.  
 
In doing all this, you attempted to make yourself look good to a larger audience.  On a personal level, you did this at my expense.  That was an unethical act, and a betrayal of trust.  Had I printed out some of your photos and hung them on dartboards, it would have been an act of derision equivalent to what you did to me.  But as your friend of three decades, I have more respect for you than to libel the artistic messages you create.  I wish you had shown the same level of tact.
 
To sum up: you wanted (a) to dismiss and/or circumvent the opinion and values of those who took offense at your posting of the Steele photo in a public forum, and (b) to exonerate yourself in the process.  You chose to do this rather than address the original issue of showing full frontal male nudity on a family friendly website in violation of website rules and public mores, for which an appropriate response would have been to extend an apology to those who were bothered by it.”