TonyWardStudio.com

Self Portrait With Nancy, 1975

COURSE OBJECTIVES:

Since the invention of photography in the early 1800’s, picture making has become part of the visual vernacular of modern cultures. This course is designed to introduce students to the fundamentals of traditional analog black & white photography. Each student will learn how to operate a basic 35mm camera; the exposure of film to a variety of light sources that include available, continuous and stroboscopic. Student’s will develop a fundamental understanding of film speed as it relates to exposure, film development and the printing of developed negatives on to light sensitive photographic paper, also known as silver gelatin printmaking.
The course work will emphasize mastering basic technical procedure and craft including; how to properly store developed negatives, archiving and print finishing. Students will be introduced to the creative aspects of the medium though specific assignments that are designed to raise the level of visual awareness and acuity. A brief introduction into the realm of digital imaging is also incorporated into this course.

Girlfriend, Rochester N.Y. 1977

Press Interview Paris, March 2010

……….TW will be teaching a course on Photography at The Univerisity of Pennsylvania’s Department of Fine Arts School of Design, in the fall of 2010. He looks forward to the challenge of working with an elite group of students.

Portrait Of The Artist By Martin Lagardere

Chanel Ward: Masters Of Education

…….. As I entered the old stadium, it brought memories back of my childhood. My dad used to attend the Eagles games there and made countless hours of color video footage of the Penn relays during his film making days in the early 60′s. It was in those early movie frames, when my age was still in single digits that the majesty of the stadium became permanently embedded in my young psyche. Franklin Field as it was known then was one of the earliest examples of classic architecture that was innocently introduced to me by my father via his love of sports.

It wasn’t a sporting event that brought me there on this day.

It was the graduation of my daughter Chanel, with a Masters degree of Education about to be placed in her 22 year old hands. I looked all around trying to find the right place to prepare myself for the best possible photographic capture of this momentous occasion. I knew how important that moment was for Chanel, as well for all that have come to know and love her.

And then it came to me. I observed two large monitors, the kind you see at most sporting events these days, capture each student receiving that most important piece of paper, the diploma. I had a split second from the time her name was called to the moment I zeroed in on the huge screen, frame then trigger. It was a decisive moment that would be remembered for a life time, and I captured it! Congratulations to the Class of 2010.

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

Group Exhibition

……….The studio is pleased to announce the opening of an exhibition entitled, “This Is Not An Invitation To Rape Me” to take place at the University of Pennsylvania on February 18th, 2010. Please join us and welcome Charles Hall, Professor VCU Brandcenter, Richmond Virginia and selected artists who contributed to this humanitarian group exhibition.

True Love

Posted by Alex Remnick

The series is called “Mike and Kate” and it depicts an actual couple, who have been dating for over a year now. While shooting, I worked with the following guidelines in mind.

•Neglect the inclination to overly display or emphasize the presence of nudity
•Attempt to realistically and objectively depict the dynamic of a relationship outside of the public eye
•Draw symbolism from the seemingly un-symbolic space in which the shoot took place

Actual Couple

Nothing in this shoot was set up, except for the fact that Mike was nude. I left for a few minutes to get more film, and when I got back, Mike was playing his guitar. Kate removed her bathrobe in the last few images because she thought she looked silly in her bathrobe.

Mike And Kate

These images are about true love, and what that term really means. Not true love in the fairy tale sense of the word where a poor young orphan meets a prince and they live happily ever after, but rather, what love truly means. Mike and Kate have definitely had their share of fights, but they can always count on being able to come back to these moments. They can always hang out half-clothed on a Sunday afternoon, do nothing, and be happy just to be together.

…….Alex Remnick is studying photography at the University of Pennsylvania.

Kalina Isato: Spiders

….The studio is pleased to announce that Kalina Isato, a photography student at the University of Pennsylvania who was featured in an earlier blog, participated in a Undergraduate Juried exhibition and won a Jurors Choice award for this series of images. We congratulate your achievement Kalina……..

Elizabeth Cunningham

…..In an ongoing effort to support student art, it is with great pleasure that the studio introduces you to the photographs of Elizabeth Cunningham. Elizabeth is studying photography at the University of Pennsylvania.

Series: The Misrepresentation of Identity
While trying to find the common thread running through my work, my initial thought was that it is an exercise in finding the beauty in the grotesque. While this is partially true, I think my unconscious intentions went further than that, to instead question the idea of identity and misrepresentation. How much does the body play a part in the two?
 
We live in a society where we are perpetually focused on our bodies and how they define us. It is impossible to avoid exposure to the advertising industry that exists to reminds us our skin is the most important tool in representing ourselves to others. But what if our bodies actually said nothing about who we are? What if that false connection between body and identity was broken?
 
In my work I explore how one can manipulate and distort the structural elements of our bodies to create grotesque figures that can still be profoundly beautiful. Piecing together new forms, these bodies say nothing about one’s identity.
 
I decided to focus on images to the extreme end of the spectrum of identity: the hyper-sexualized images of the pornography industry. These subjects are defined by their attempt to be seen as single-faceted, sexual beings, ritualistically obsessed with what their bodies can do. Viewers remain in a state of suspended belief, choosing to think of these men and women as the sex objects their actions are hinting at, rather than a unique person with a complex person. A belief that this is not a job for them, this is who they are.  I removed the figures from their erotic context, and intentionally distorted them. These new disturbing and grotesque figures would be unlikely to be found in the pornographic world, and yet I ultimately wanted to create images that were still undeniably beautiful. Most importantly, these images emphasize that once again, the body is a shell; a beautiful and complex one that can be distorted and changed to represent a multitude of things, but one that says almost nothing of what is held inside.

Elizabeth

The Misrepresentation of Identiy

Lips - Self Portrait Kalina Isato

…..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.

Kalina Isato

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.

Lauren

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.

Jacqui And Brenda

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

Hermaphrodite Frontal

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

Transsexual Women's Hands