Fetish

SEXUAL FETISHISM

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Tony Ward made his first trip to Amsterdam in the Spring of 1999.  Many visits followed. He would often check into the Winston Hotel, renowned in Europe as an “Art” hotel. It welcomed and catered to artists from around the world. The Winston was the brainchild of his dear friend Frans Verlinden, Jr., a handsome innovative hotel entrepreneur who became friends with the artist after he booked a room at Verlinden’s hotel. The Winston is located on the Warmoestratt, one of the oldest streets in Amsterdam, central within the heart of the red light district.  Frans Verlinden, was a passionate supporter of the Arts, and he enjoyed assisting Tony on many of his shoots. He introduced the photographer to renowned Dutch artists including; Aldert Mantje, Paul Blanca, Micha Klein and Erwin Olaf. These and other artists frequented the Winston and helped to preserve its reputation. 

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Frans Verlinden at Wasteland party, Amsterdam 2004.

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Frans Verlinden also introduced him to entertainment businessmen Rene Meeuwessen and Jeroen Oosterhout. They are producers of a spectacular event known as Wasteland, the largest fetish party in all of Europe. Wasteland parties are held twice a year at various venues in Amsterdam that can accommodate extremely large crowds. The Wasteland party historically attracts approximately 4000 people at both the fall and spring events. Attendees arrive from various European locations including Belgium, Germany, England and France.  On a very special occasion Tony Ward was invited to MC a Wasteland party on the same night he had a mock studio set up to take portraits of the most outrageously dressed of the attendees. The culmination of this immersion in the fetish world was a picture book entitled, Wasteland a documentation of the Wasteland parties from 1999 to 2005.  The book with introduction by Josselien Meijs  and was published in 2010 by La Musardine, Paris. It was at these parties that he began to photograph public sexual acts.  BDSM, group sex, gay/lesbian sex and Shibaru were  some of the alternative and exotic methods of sexual satisfaction that were documented at Wasteland. 

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Wasteland Poster 2005

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