Tony Ward - Tableaux Vivants - 2002

In Tableaux Vivants, this genre master takes us through an elaborate series of conceptual and imaginative mise en scene, drawing the viewer into a fantasy-meets-reality dreamworld of theatrical environments where the perception of taboo is turned on its head. In his foreword, Rick Wester writes: "Tony Ward's photographs are nearly apolitical, but thrive on liberty. In a world seemingly overobsessed with sex, Ward's imagery is a dream pool, reflecting not only the deep-seated fantasies of the auteur but also the narcissistic and mischievous wanderings of his players."
Witty, ironic, irreverent, sly or outrageous, these grandly staged, surreal settings are luxuriantly indulgent scenes of erotica. With his playfully daring and cleverly satirical nods to social, religious, cultural, and historical ideas and icons, Ward has created a boldly fabulous montage of erotic tableaux.