Month: February 2018

Emily Cheng: The Masks We Wear

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The Masks We Wear
 

 

Photography, Video and Text by Wing Hei Emily Cheng, Copyright 2018

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THE MASKS WE WEAR

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At Penn, we struggle with expressing our emotions. “Penn Face,” hiding our hardships and failures behind a perfect facade, is a well-documented phenomenon on campus. We work so hard to maintain the illusion that we have everything together, concealing the emotional highs and lows that are part and parcel of college life. We’re afraid that expressing our emotions will make us vulnerable and weak.

We all wear masks. We say “I’m fine” even as we’re depressed inside. We post smiling photos on Instagram even as we lie in bed sobbing. We don’t text back even when what we’d like to say is “I love you.” We maintain indifference even when we want to express real excitement. We keep ourselves at a distance from friends and loved ones, never exposing the emotions behind our fake smiles. There is such strong dissonance between what we really feel and what we show to others. Is it really a surprise that Penn has so much depression and so many suicides when we all seem to bottle up our emotions until we can’t take it anymore?

This project aims to unveil the full emotional spectrum that lies behind the masks we wear everyday – melancholy, depression, love, passion, manic despair and rapturous joy. It places our ups and downs directly in public view. My hope is that we can be a little more honest, a little more open with one another. That we can embrace our own vulnerabilities and let them shine.

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Portrait of Emily Cheng by Mu Qiao, Copyright 2018
Portrait of Emily Cheng by Mu Qiao, Copyright 2018

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About The Author: Wing Hei Emily Cheng is a Senior enrolled in the College of the University of Pennsylvania, Class of 2018.

A.H. Scott: Follow the Ruble Road

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100 Rubles

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Poetry by A. H. Scott, Copyright 2018

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In the swirling of Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation, an old adage from another place and time is ever so true. Follow the money! Or, in this case, follow the ruble. If all roads lead to Russian infusion of cash into the family business of Donald Trump, then we gotta’ “Follow the Ruble Road”.

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FOLLOW THE RUBLE ROAD

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Farmgirl of yesterday was blessed with Glinda the Good Witch

Citizenry of today is damned with the Son a Twitch

His are the seeds of sorrow he sowed

Follow the rule Road

Follow the ruble Road

Follow, follow, follow, follow, follow The ruble Road

Back in the day of Woodward and Bernstein, they showed us the way

This time, instead of the eagle, the bear leads the way

Scion of the Don explained it in 2008

All roads lead that a’ way

When in doubt, ruble will keep the kingdom afloat

Transparency be damned, for secrecy is the cloak of our clan

Emolument won’t dent our style, as we smile our way down that finely paid road

What part of being brought and paid for is misunderstood?

Collusion aint what it was or be

It’s just business that he done did

If ever there’s a road that has to be saved, it’s the one that rubles paid

Teller’s window in the banks of the states were closed to Son of a Twitch

Bankruptcy is such a sad affair

Yet, he had many, there and there and there

Gotta keep up the appearance of being a Golden Boy, even when the source of his funding makes him turn coy

Oh, boy, oh boy, how the ruble has turned

Since he reads no books, from history he has never attempted to learn

So, when Mueller comes for him, the afterglow of the bear will be the greatest burn

Road’s comin’ to an end and it is over that razor’s edge he is goin’ to bend

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About The Author: A.H. Scott is a poet based in New York City and frequent contributor to Tony Ward Studio. To read additional articles by A. H. Scott, go here: https://tonywardstudio.com/blog/h-scott-vortex-vile/

 

 

Diary: Hannah & Heidi

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Photography and Text by Tony Ward, Copyright 2018

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HANNAH & HEIDI

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I first met Hannah through the gentlemen’s club scene in Philadelphia during the late 1990’s. She was a popular adult entertainer with an exotic look and a charming demure personality.  I was shooting material at the time for a company online called MET who catered to an audience that liked soft delicate romantic pictures of young women who were natural beauties. No cosmetic surgery allowed for any model submission to the publication . Hannah was a perfect casting for MET. The bonus surprise on the day of the shoot was her childhood friend, Heidi also wanted to be photographed with Hannah, but not totally nude.  It was a typical hot and humid day in Philly that August, so I suggested to Hannah; that she take a shower conveniently located on the grounds of the property that served as a backdrop for the series.

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To access additional Diary entries about Hannah, click here: http://tonywarderotica.com/diary-portrait-day/

Diary: Portrait of the Day

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Hannah

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Photography and Text by Tony Ward, Copyright 2018

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HANNAH

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Hannah and I go back a long way.  The first time I photographed her was in 2003 when she was just 20 years old.  This picture was taken several years later in 2006 after she was almost killed in a horrible car accident on her way to work.  Hannah was one of the most beloved adult entertainers in the Philadelphia area during those days. Over time she recovered  but never fully returned to the adult stage. She agreed to sit for this portrait to commemorate her recovery during a most difficult time.  

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To access additional Diary entries, click here: http://tonywarderotica.com/diary-cathy-jean/

 

Bob Shell: Letters From Prison 2018 #1

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Photo: Tony Ward, Copyright 2018
 

Letters From Prison, Part 1 2018

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Text by Bob Shell, Copyright 2018

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The other day one of the young men here handed me a book to read. I looked at it and was transported back in time more than fifty years. The book is Story of O. In 1966 I was nineteen years old, in my second year at Virginia Tech, working part time in a bookstore/coffee shop wrapping shipments for mailing, and trying to find a girlfriend. To make extra money, I was selling subscriptions to Playboy and Evergreen Review. I ordered a book I’d read about in Evergreen, called The Story of O, which had just been published in the US. The book had created quite a stir! There was much discussion about Pauline Reage, the credited author. Was this a pseudonym? Was the author really a man? Would the publisher end up in prison alongside the publisher of Screw?

This book was my first introduction to serious S and M erotica. To say it had a strong impact on me would be a massive understatement. Ever since I first read the book, I’ve had a dream of filming, still or movie, this story. There is a “band designee” version by the masterful French artist Guido Crepax, and a pretty awful movie and serialized TV miniseries, but they’re far too toned down. Anyway, I was surprised to find the book here where everything is so heavily censored. Apparently explicit verbal sex is OK, but even a bare breast is forbidden pictorially. I recently had an issue of Vogue magazine confiscated for containing nudity, and got an institutional charge for having it! I was given 45 days telephone restriction as punishment. Imagine that in the good old U.S.A.! Such is life here in the DOC.

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About The Author: Bob Shell is a professional photographer, author and former editor in chief of Shutterbug Magazine. He is currently serving a 35 year sentence at Pocahontas State Correctional Center, Pocahontas, Virginia for involuntary manslaughter for the death of Marion Franklin, one of his former models. Mr. Shell is serving the 10th years of his sentence. To read more articles by Bob Shell, go here: http://tonywarderotica.com/bob-shell-letters-prison-part-5/