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Shanell Verandez: A Musical Journey

Assistant to Photographer: Anthony Colagreco

Creative Director: KVaughn

A Musical Journey

Hola, My name is Shanell and I am a “Jane of All Trades and Master of None”. I have dabbled in almost every Artistic, Academic, Athletic and Spiritual endeavors one can possibly expose themselves to. I feel blessed to have an open mind and heart to be able to comprehend what I am absorbing from different kinds of people, places and things.

Most of all, Music has been one my favorite artistic endeavors, it runs through my family’s bloodline literally….I started when I was 6yrs old in Elementary school with a Music Aptitude test that I passed with flying colors which enabled me to receive an instrument of choice. My music teacher guided me to a room filled with instruments. It looked like a treasure chest! I wanted the Cello, they didn’t have one, so my teacher suggested the violin, but my arm length was too long. So ,she finally introduced me to the Viola and the start of my ongoing relationship with that instrument began.

Then in Junior high school came another desire to play another instrument, the Oboe. Once again, another unavailable instrument, but the teacher brought out an elegant beauty, the French horn. I was baffled because I had never seen this instrument before, so the teacher instructed that I had a week to blow one note in that instrument or move on. This instrument was meant to be mine, because by the end of that week, I got the note( a high C) and another musical relationship began.

I have another relationship with an instrument we all take for granted, the vocal cords. My singing journey began in a Baptist church set in a row house in the Historic “Black Bottom” section of Philadelphia. Most of my family was either in the choir, playing the drums or organ as well being a member on the church board. I had the chance to sing solos that were taught to me by my Aunt. Later on in life at High school I was singing in the bathroom stalls with my friend and we didn’t realize that there was another person present until she knocked on my bathroom stall and asked me to come out. She was a vocal teacher and an active Opera singer that had an interest in me becoming her student. I started studying with her and it turned out to be a very powerful relationship out of my musical “ménage a trois”. She guided my vocal career throughout the years( high school and college, beyond).

So one would wonder… What is holding me back? I would point the finger at those who didn’t believe in me and tried everything in they could to block me, but no, I need to get past that pain and realize it is me holding myself back. Why? It is because I have really terrible stage fright and I have to believe in myself more and become more centered. The very thought of becoming more focused and centered within myself has inspired me to take another step and start writing songs, here is one I would like to share with all of you, the song is Titled …

” Soul Centered “

Sittin’ on a Whim

Just Wastin’ Time

Feel like I’ve Lost

An Oasis

Traveling thru Time

A Rush of Feelings

To Get Up and Get Mine

Soul Centered

Is where I want to be

Soul Centered

Is where I want to free

Different but Familiar

From Afar

Sometimes it makes me

Wonder why you are

A Touch of Brilliance

Growin’ From Within

I’ve Trekked on Somethin’

Different why it’s a Sin

Soul Centered

Is Where I Want to Be

Soul Centered

Is Where I Want to Free

One Day I will be able to perform this Song during my Music Journey… Peace

Editor’s Note: This is Shanell Verandez first sitting with Tony Ward for the Vixen’s series. To see all of the work to date from the new series, click here: https://tonyward.com/new-work-the-vixens-series/

Megan McGory: Essence

Essence

So, what am I up to these days? Sexually, of course.

Who am I as a woman, a lover…someone who knows herself in a way that is shaped by my past.

This question is deep and substantial, but let’s focus on the present. The satisfaction of knowing my desires and needs and being able to obtain them is something that many never achieve.

So here is a little of me.

Let’s talk of “simple pleasures” which are not simple in any sense. Having my lover against me, so intense, their scent, the quite whispers, giggles and moans of pleasure as we enjoy intimacy and connection. An experience reached by opening one’s mind and vulnerabilities to their partner. To allow myself to open this way can only described as “next level” and goes well beyond sexual actions.

Toys are something that are always a part of my fun. I have a convenient spot where they are kept in a box that can be locked. Even big girls need a toy box. Inside is an expansive collection of playthings, so many that sometimes I forget a few. When away from home, there are one or two hidden away for use in whatever situation may arise. Creativity…solo or otherwise is always welcome.

I am a tease. Leaning in and quietly suggesting scenarios that cannot be played out is appealing. Sending pictures at times of the day when it is genuinely distracting makes me giggle. Texting suggestive ideas, building on it and abruptly ending the conversation? Not me! Sharing that, “My fingers were between my thighs a few minutes ago.” when out for a meal or in a public place achieves such pleasing results. Sharing one of my sexy written stories and knowing exactly the response it will create warms me up in all the right ways. Mentioning in passing that, “I’m not wearing panties.” or saying that, “I want to get on my knees and linger there for a long, long time.” This is who I am.

Porn, naughty stories and “dressing up” are things I incorporate into my days and nights. Spontaneity should not be overlooked. Sliding my hands up a shirt or down past a waistband in a dark corner of a public place? Yes please. Climbing on a lap in a car. What surface of the house is yet to be explored? How about a public restroom? Always ready for the challenge. A quickie on the kitchen counter? How fast can my panties drop??? Tie me up, spank me, cover my eyes and surprise me!

Treat me like the Vixen that I am.

About The Author:

Meg is a tenacious person. She has a lot of interesting life stories and likes to challenge herself by learning and trying new things. She is an excellent cook and baker. She can make and decorate elaborate cakes. Health and fitness are a part of her lifestyle. She bought and is living in a foreclosure which she is making her own room by room. She is certified to teach pistol because she believes a woman should be comfortable defending herself. She enjoys hiking and is completing a certification in personal training. She is a badass 50 plus year old woman living life to its fullest.

To read additional articles by Megan Golwitzer, click here: https://tonywarderotica.com/megan-mcgory-exploration/

Kemo Chen: All Men Are Poets

A book of poetry by Kemo Chen — Muscular Poetry by Kemo Chen, Copyright 2021

All Men Are Poets

I never met a man who wasn’t a poet.

All of us are inside. There are feelings, images, furies wanting to emerge, awaiting a creative spark that sets them afire.

I found that spark after years of suppressing it, afraid of saying what was on mind to myself , mostly. I had no great design, but, had notebooks in boxes , of thoughts, opinions, and notions of how the forces had taken me away from whatever, I was or wanted to be , to this here and now.

Still a working man, with bosses and boundaries , that remained in the politically correct corral , I elected to inhabit a pen name, so I could write free, full throated and uninhibited. And, I called it Muscular Poetry, not about the flowers blooming, unrequited loves, the usual ebb and flow of relationships , in arcane passages, deciphered by other poets , not mere mortal men.

No, my collections are about what it is like to be man. A man who sees the world in different shades of light and gray and white, and sometimes black, and at other times, with the darkness that comes from deep within where light emerges sparingly.

Words are both sword and shield.

The great beat poet, Michael McClure, famously offered,

“Poetry is a muscular principal, there is no logic, but sequences of feelings”

And all of these feelings are for you, in an era when compliance substitutes for truth, where more is canceled than added, and the minority view masquerades as the majority will. Up is down, down is up , and two plus two equals five.

Muscular Poetry is about the inner journey to find the best of ourselves, sometimes at great cost and loss. It defines the vagaries of the essential struggle to achieve , love, overcome adversity, and find some peace of mind.

It is poetry , declaring, you are not alone, unless you want to be, and knowing that either way, that choice is the essence of your free will. If there is bliss out there, it is as much a birthright for all men as is , fortitude, courage, and grit.

I write to encourage you to write, and create. For no one but yourself. It is more than amusement or therapy, it will embolden you, knowing you have something to say that defines the purpose and meaning of your life.

There is a poet inside you, face him, and he will set you free.

Portrait of the author Kemo Chen — Portrait of the author: Kemo Chen 2021.

About The Author: Kemo Chen is a journalist, adventurer, contrarian, and street corner philosopher. He has rubbed shoulders with moguls, Presidents, Prime Minsters, and fighting men from the Golan to Chechnya. He’s traveled from Xinjiang to the caves of Qumran. An advocate of all men finding themselves and realizing their potential. An avowed enemy of the obvious.

Muscular Poetry is now available on Amazon! Link here: <br />

Riza Oliva: Sex And The City

Portrait of Riza Oliva for Homepage cover of Tony Ward Studio — Riza Oliva. Photo: Tony Ward, Copyright 2021

Sex And The City

Before Netflix, Hulu and HBO Max, I would turn on my T.V. and watch a group of bold and promiscuous women taking over the Big Apple doing things that men would have been praised for. Instead women in society receive negativity and backlash for the same actions like dating multiple people, let alone having sex with them. My take on the subject is that people should be able to explore their desires when they’re single until they find someone who fits their lifestyle.

Imagine Sex And The City happening in this current generation. The generation of technology with Facebook, Instagram, Tinder, Bumble, and all the other dating applications right at the tip of your fingers. Wouldn’t that be a wild new twist in the series? I feel like I have lived my own “Sex And The City”. Dating in my 20’s during this generation in a big city was an adventure. I didn’t do too much swiping but social media had played a big part of me meeting people. After I became a model, my confidence grew but my perspective on dating also changed. I used to be that girl who was always in long relationships. One advice I would give any individual in their 20’s is to not settle down so quickly. I think being able to live your life and finding your wants, needs and most importantly finding yourself is so critical in life. But back to my dating life, my DM’s were pretty interesting and comical. I still have no idea what the fascination is of some men wanting to send random women dick pictures without even saying hello. It must be the confidence people have behind the screens. I don’t think I have ever publicly spoken about my dating life but I definitely received messages from athletes, artists, exes, childhood friends, and even people’s fathers. I was not one to really entertain a lot of people but I got to meet some really interesting characters in my own show which my friends and I even had nicknames for. I won’t kiss and tell so I will not be naming anyone in this article, I’ll bring those secrets to my grave.

About The Author: Riza Oliva is a professional photographer, actress, model, business owner and mom based in Philadelphia. To read contributing writer Katie Kerl’s interview with Riza Oliva, click here: https://tonyward.com/interview-riza-oliva/

Leif Skoogfors: Interview

US Army’s 1st Infantry Division on final parade in Wurtzberg, Germany as it is returned from NATO service and sent home to US.

Children with bird, Shankill Rd., Belfast

Le-Monstre-an-eight-year-yold-child-of-Al-Fatah

Soldiers, peacekeeping NATO 8th AD, Bosnia

Leif_Skoofgors_flag_america_anti_war_photo-copy

Michael Farrell, a leader of People’s Democracy, addresses a crowd in Belfast, Northern Ireland, July 1972. People’s Democracy is a Civil Rights organization that attempted to push forward rights in a non-violent manner for the Catholic minority population of the British portion of Ireland. The divergent factions fought an irregular war within the six mainly Protestant areas of Ireland, known as Ulster. Belfast, Northern Ireland, July 1972.

Refugees from Srebrenica in Mental Hospital

LEIF SKOOGFORS INTERVIEW:

TW: When did you first realize your vocation would be to become a photojournalist? Who or what influences in your life early on led you down this path?

LS: The weekly arrival of LIFE magazine, in those days a respected and worldly periodical showed me the world. I saved up to buy a 1958 book on LIFE’s photo staff and was fascinated by the adventures the men and women who worked for LIFE were.

Politics and world events were part of my blood; my father, a Swedish engineer, had worked for a time in Germany. He was in Prussia as Hitler tried his Beer Hall Putsch in 1923. After he returned to Sweden, he was consumed by news about the Finish-Soviet Winter War of 1939, and my father, who had worked in the US, decided his family was best raised there. Three months after the German invasion of Poland, he packed us up, and we emigrated to the US, so current events were subject to daily analysis.

My interest in world events and politics was consuming, and photojournalism combined all of this with art. It was the ultimate answer for me.

TW: What impact did studying with Alex Brodovitch have on your approach to photography and photojournalism in particular?

LS: I’m not sure I fully understood Brodovitch at first. He said to the twenty-plus students who met in Richard Avedon’s studio, he would only talk about photographs that were new to him; or were so terrible as to raise his anger. He ignored the mediocre. And most of my work was mediocre. It led to a healthy self-criticism. There is a push to go beyond, even in the most ordinary projects. And that is an invaluable lesson!

TW: As I reviewed the breadth of your work for this interview, it became readily apparent that the themes you addressed in your visual reporting from 40 years ago are very relevant to the types of demonstrations, marches and protests we see currently on the American streets and throughout the world. What are your thoughts about the Trump administration and the propaganda the white house espouses these days?

LS: I photographed Donal Trump once, at first as other journalists have written about, he pretended to be his own press agent under another name. I arrived at his Atlantic City casino and asked for the press agent by name, John Miller. A tall blond haired man came down the stairs and I said,”Hi John, good to meet you”. The man scowled and said, “I’m Donald Trump.” We didn’t get along well since I didn’t really know who Donald Trump was. An ego jolt?

More eloquent folks have analyzed The Trump White House. It is clear it sucks. And it is incredibly sad that the current demonstrations must go on to force more change. I’m sorry that my current situation won’t allow me to be out there still.

TW: What was the most exciting assignment you worked on where you believe your photographs may have influenced public opinion for the good of mankind?

LS: I’m not sure my photographs influenced people; I know I tried in my book, “The Most Natural Thing in the World,” done a long time ago. I tried to show the situation there, and the poor folks caught in the middle of a bitter war. Recently a journalist said that the essay in the book, text by friends John and Lenore Cooney, was the most accurate depiction” of “The Troubles” he’d ever seen.

Just two years ago, I had an appointment with a doctor who had emigrated from Bosnia. When I told her of my time there, she was effusive in thanking me. She said that it was the journalists who covered that terrible war, influencing the US and NATO to come in and enforce a Peace. It made me realize how important the work we do is, helping end a war with the highest mass killings of civilians in Europe since WW2 .

TW: You have spent a significant amount of your time working with the DART Society and the effects of war and its aftermath. How has seeing so much death and destruction impacted your life and well being?

LS: One of the most severe problems facing any journalist covering current events; from a war zone or a local car crash is Post Traumatic Stress. Estimates range from 15 to 30 percent of photographers who face horrific situations will have to deal with these issues. If not treated, the photographer may experience a lifetime of problems.

I suffered from a severe attack years after covering the irregular war, known as “The Troubles,” in Northern Ireland. Fortunately, I’d also attended a workshop on Post Traumatic Stress given by the Dart Center and found treatment.

I’ve volunteered with this and other groups to raise funds for groups helping journalists both to understand PTSD or receive counseling.

TW: What advice can you offer the young photojournalist who has the compassion to document tragedy?

LS: I would advise any young photojournalist always to be prepared to offer compassion or help when covering traumatic events. Often, just letting a subject you know the pain they may be suffering will help. And never be afraid to ask for help yourself.

TW: If you were to start your career over again, what would you do differently if anything?

LS: If I was starting my career over, what fun would that be! I’d wish for the opportunity for an excellent liberal arts education and add another language and some decent art courses. Drawing is a fast way to learn about two-dimensional work, and that’s what a photograph is all about.

TW: Now that you are retired from the grind of day to day photojournalism, what is a typical day like for you since you had the recent health challenge?

LS: Unfortunately, I’ve suffered some health challenges, not to mention the infuriating limitations of advancing age. But I try to spend as much time going over my archive in anticipation of placing it with the University of Texas. I love finding a beautiful photo I’d overlooked in the past, something that surprises me. I also realize that my work covers history and I’m proud to have worked during the “golden age of journalism.”

TW: Who is your favorite photographer and why?

LS: Too many, I fear. Among them, Cartier-Bresson for his “Decisive Moment,” Gene Smith for his passion, and Jacques Henri Lartigue for his sense of humor. Ed van der Elsken also influenced me, perhaps with the romanticism of his book “Love on the Left Bank.” I still have the first edition of that work from 1954.

TW: How would you like to be remembered?

As one of the hardest working photojournalists!

Portrait of Leif Skoogfors with Special Warfare unit.

About The Photographer: Leif Skoogfors (born 1940 in Wilmington, Delaware) is a documentary photographer and educator. He was born in Wilmington, Delaware, one month after his family, including brothers Olaf and Eric, fled Sweden as World War II broke out. His family crossed the North Atlantic in December 1939 on a neutral Norwegian ship.