Women Archives - Tony Ward Studio

Lifestyle: How to Keep Your Ass in Shape

young black woman wearing g-string with beautiful ass in shape — Photo: Tony Ward, Copyright 2024

How to Keep Your Ass in Shape with Diet and Exercise

Keeping your glutes in shape doesn’t have to mean spending hours in the gym or following a strict diet. With a few targeted exercises and smart dietary choices, you can strengthen and tone your backside while maintaining overall health. Here’s how to shape your glutes through balanced lifestyle habits and workouts.

Glute-Focused Workouts

Squats: The squat is a classic move for good reason. Variations like sumo squats, jump squats, and goblet squats help target all three glute muscles while also working your quads and hamstrings. Aim for three sets of 12-15 reps, and remember to engage your core and keep your chest up for maximum effect.
Lunges: Lunges not only tone the glutes but also improve balance. Walking lunges, reverse lunges, and Bulgarian split squats all target the glutes from different angles. Try three sets of 10 reps per leg, ensuring your knee stays aligned with your ankle for proper form.
Hip Thrusts: Hip thrusts and glute bridges are great for isolating the glutes. For added challenge, place a weight on your hips. Perform three sets of 12 reps, squeezing your glutes at the top of each rep.
Deadlifts: Deadlifts are fantastic for building strength in the glutes and hamstrings. Romanian and sumo deadlifts specifically target the glutes. Aim for three sets of 8-10 reps, focusing on proper form to protect your lower back.

Diet for Toned Glutes

Lean Proteins: Protein is essential for muscle repair and growth. Incorporate lean sources like chicken, turkey, fish, eggs, and plant-based proteins to support your workouts.
Healthy Fats: Fats are essential for hormone production and recovery. Include sources like avocados, nuts, seeds, and olive oil to keep your body fueled.
Complex Carbohydrates: Carbs provide energy for your workouts. Opt for whole grains, sweet potatoes, and quinoa, which offer sustained energy and aid in recovery.
Hydration: Staying hydrated is key for muscle function. Water helps with circulation, digestion, and energy levels, so aim for at least eight glasses a day.

Consistency is Key

Keeping your glutes in shape requires consistency. Aim for a combination of resistance training and a balanced diet, and remember that gradual progress is more sustainable. Set realistic goals, and adjust your routine as you get stronger. With commitment and the right approach, you’ll see results that boost your strength and confidence.

Beauty at a Cost: The Dark Side of the Modeling World

Portrait of young asian woman looking very thin like anorexia — Photo: Tony Ward, Copyright 2024

Beauty at a Cost: The Dark Side of the Modeling World

The modeling industry has long been associated with glamour, beauty, and the pursuit of perfection. From the runway to glossy magazine covers, models are celebrated for their ability to embody an ideal of elegance and allure. But beneath the surface of this high-profile industry lies a disturbing reality: the pervasive pressure on models to lose weight, often to dangerous extremes, leading to the onset of eating disorders such as anorexia.

For decades, the fashion industry has promoted a narrow standard of beauty that equates thinness with desirability. Models are often expected to maintain an extremely slender physique, which many fashion houses and agencies believe complements their clothing designs and appeals to the industry’s aesthetic sensibilities. As a result, models—particularly women—face relentless pressure to stay slim, sometimes to an unhealthy degree. While the fashion world publicly touts its commitment to diversity and body positivity in recent years, the deep-seated demands for ultra-thinness persist in many corners of the industry.

The pressure to conform to these standards can have devastating consequences. Many models resort to extreme dieting, exercise, and even dangerous practices such as starvation or the use of appetite suppressants to achieve and maintain the desired weight. In some cases, agencies and designers directly encourage or even force models to lose weight, placing their careers on the line if they don’t comply. The relentless pursuit of a certain body type can lead to a host of physical and psychological issues, with one of the most severe being anorexia nervosa.

Anorexia, an eating disorder characterized by an intense fear of gaining weight and a distorted body image, affects many individuals in the modeling industry. The condition is marked by extreme food restriction, leading to significant weight loss and severe health risks. Those suffering from anorexia often experience a range of complications, including malnutrition, weakened immune systems, bone density loss, cardiovascular problems, and in some cases, death. Mentally, the disorder can lead to anxiety, depression, and a pervasive sense of inadequacy, as individuals struggle to meet the industry’s unattainable standards.

The fashion industry’s fixation on thinness has drawn widespread criticism in recent years, with many advocates calling for systemic change to protect models’ health and well-being. Some countries have even introduced legislation to combat the issue. In France, for example, a 2015 law requires models to present a medical certificate attesting to their health, and digitally altered images in advertising must be labeled as such. These measures aim to reduce the glorification of dangerously thin bodies and promote a healthier, more realistic portrayal of beauty.

However, these efforts are only part of the solution. Changing the culture within the modeling industry requires a fundamental shift in how beauty is defined and represented. Designers, agencies, and media outlets must embrace a broader spectrum of body types and promote a healthier, more inclusive vision of beauty. This includes valuing models of different shapes, sizes, and ethnicities, and rejecting the harmful notion that extreme thinness is synonymous with attractiveness or professionalism.

The industry also needs to provide better support for models who are struggling with eating disorders or the pressure to lose weight. This includes offering mental health resources, promoting body-positive initiatives, and fostering environments where models are valued for their individuality and talent, rather than their adherence to unrealistic body ideals.

Ultimately, the issue of forced weight loss and anorexia in the modeling world is not just a problem for the individuals affected—it reflects broader societal pressures around body image and beauty standards. As the fashion industry evolves, it has the power and responsibility to lead the way in promoting a healthier, more diverse definition of beauty—one that celebrates all body types and prioritizes the well-being of its models.

Only by addressing these deep-rooted issues can the modeling industry move forward into a future where health, confidence, and true beauty reign supreme.

Tracey Olkus: Behind The Scenes

Tracey Olkus:Behind The Scenes

Tracey Olkus and I have known each other for decades. Philly is a small town amongst creatives. We worked together on shoots over the years as she is one of the best hair stylists in Philly, but I never had a chance to photograph her as a subject, for years I only worked with her like any other colleague in the Arts. Tracey always had this allure but shy in a way or so it seemed. Last year I invited her up to my new studio in Elkins Park to assist on a shoot and I also invited her to attend a party at my house during the summer. That’s when it finally clicked that I wanted to photograph her for The Vixens Series. The time was ripe.

After several back and forth communications, she agreed and noted that she had never been photographed by a professional photographer before. I felt honored and I think she cherished the moment. So the process began. I asked Tracey to put some fashion together from her wardrobe and explained the process of how I work with creative director, KVaughn. They too have known each other for decades so communicating by Zoom was easy and so began our team’s creative journey. There would be four to five changes within a two hour shoot schedule. My lighting assistant, Anthony Colagreco was working the lights. Fortunately for us, Tracey had lots of interesting costumes that KVaughn curated and molded into the style in which the series has become known. KV especially knows I have a thing for hats. Tracey is also a headdress maker. A creative match made in heaven and the pictures are always the result.

Tracey indicated on the eve of her sitting that she was a little nervous. That to me usually indicates the person that I am photographing is fully immersed in the creative outcome, which through my experience tends to lead to a positive result. I simply assured her she was in good hands.

To be cast for The Vixen Series contact: Tony@TonyWard.com.

To access The Vixens Series gallery link here: https://tonyward.com/the-vixens-series/

Lileet_Miriam: Work is Work Isn’t It?

Styling by KVaughn

Work is Work, Isn’t It?

The concept, by design, is meant to be transactional. An even exchange. You provide “x” set of skills for a particular field so therefore you should be paid “y” in return, right? The good ole “employer/employee relationship.” But, what happens when you are both the employer/employee that must rely upon a third party (cash app, social media platform, or even a reputable banking institution) that is designed, let alone meant to provide you with the steady income you worked for only to be told in return, sometimes without warning, “no, we can’t provide you with your hard earned money because THESE set of skills you possess, we actually frown upon.” Welcome to the constant struggle of the current sex worker.

As The New York Times reported in November of 2023, “workers in sex-related industries – whether creating online content, or working in a strip club or even a legal brothel, – often risk their safety and face social and employment discrimination. But a lesser-known struggle is that it’s often difficult to maintain a basic bank account and other financial relationships that most people take for granted.” The ability to maintain a business bank account, a line of credit, or to generally use the financial services of banking institutions or service providers like Zelle or Venmo, are essential to commercial undertaking. In the life of a small business operator, that quickly bleeds into one’s personal life and ability to perform basic economic functions like use a checking account, obtain a mortgage, or even keep a credit card. Unfortunately, for many sex workers, who are disproportionally women, these basic rights are denied, forcing them into a continuous cycle of financial instability and hardship.

Whether driven by moral condemnation or financial risk assessment, too often women involved in sexually explicit work find their access to banking institutions and financial service providers denied. According to a May 2023 report from the Free Speech Coalition, nearly 40% of workers in the adult sex industry have experienced account closures and denials of service in this past year alone.

Some of the dangers are clear. The inability to access financial services and banking causes significant financial instability and prevents the creation of new businesses and wealth. This cycle in turn forces workers in the adult sex industry to depend on less reliable third parties or operate through the use of far less secure payment methods like cash and cryptocurrency. The negative impact far transcends the business end of the operation for most small business operators. Lack of credit and easily documented income can quickly have a negative impact on one’s personal credit, impacting the very basic needs of modern life.

Work is work, except for when a bank decides that it is not the type of work that one should be doing. Then work becomes an arduous journey to secure a glimpse of financial security. For many women, who comprise a significant sector of modern adult sex work, this has become a reality which often compromises their ability to work for a living.

Antoinette. AKA Scorpiana: You Cannot Pour From an Empty Cup

Beautiful tall black woman models a KVaughn couture jacket photographed by Tony Ward Copyright 2024 — Antoinette. AKA Scorpiana. Photo: Tony Ward, Copyright 2024

Text by Antoinette, AKA Scorpiana

You Cannot Pour From an Empty Cup

You cannot pour from an empty cup.

This was the single best piece of parenting and life advice I have ever received and my continuous reminder to take care of myself. Navigating multiple polyamorous partnerships requires a lot of time and effort but those relationships continuously fill my cup. It was thru one of those relationships that I was introduced to rope bondage, and with it a whole new world in the BDSM community.

Chinese woman hanging upside down in bondage in her bedroom — Savanna. Photo: Tony Ward, Copyright 2024. Rope Work by Scorpiana.

Rope spoke to me in a way nothing had previously. The artistry, the physical challenge, the emotional connection it can foster. Being restrained was the first time in my life I could turn my brain off and just be in the moment, in my body. Learning to tie others was the most fantastic puzzle that continues to challenge me physically and mentally years later. It is a rare situation where I have never gotten bored, and boredom is ever present in my life as a human with ADHD. Balancing my kink life with my vanilla life as a working mother of two kids has me literally and figuratively pulled in multiple directions every day. Yet it is thru rope that I keep my cup full for the rest of the things in my life. Rope bondage has provided a unique emotionally connective experience with friends and partners alike. It is an expression of my creativity and an artistic outlet unlike any other.

closeup bondage photo of woman's butt — Tony Ward for KVaughn Scarves, Copyright 2024.

Sculpture with the human body, a transient dynamic living piece of art. Expanding access to rope bondage for those who are traditionally not included due to body size and ability is this intersection between my professional life as a physical therapist and my personal life as a rigger that allows me to share my love of learning and teaching with other marginalized groups. Tying others, and being tied, has been a source of joy that has kept me happy and grounded and better able to show up in all other aspects of my life; as a parent, as a partner, and as a physical therapist.

Beautiful tall black woman models a KVaughn couture coat photographed by Tony Ward Copyright 2024 — Antoinette. AKA Scorpiana. Photo: Tony Ward, Copyright 2024