Photography and Text by Tony Ward, Copyright 2022
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The Maid and The Maiden
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By the early nineteen nineties I was beginning to start photographing pre-conceived fantasy scenes that I would later call tableaux vivant’s. The photographs would be comprised of two to three actors for each scene that were the basis for a series of pictures that resulted in the book of Tableaux Vivant’s, published by Edition Stemmle, Zurich, Switzerland 2001. This particular role play of maid and maiden was the only color image produced in the series that began in 1993 and completed with the publication of the monograph in 2001.
An ideal location was selected by scouting an advertising agencies offices in center city Philadelphia that I had an affiliation with for freelance photographic assignments. My contact at the agency, an art director friend, got permission for me to photograph on a balcony outside of the original John Wanamaker conference room. The terrace was made up of old stone and poured concrete. The John Wanamaker department store opened in Philadelphia in 1910 and has been in continuous operation as a store an office building ever since. The setting fit in perfectly with the dominant/submissive theme of the picture. The oversized broom – a prop for the maid- was discovered at the agency while I was scouting the location. The advertising agency had the oversized prop made for a client project so when I came across it, I imagined a way for it to fit into the overall humor of the scene.
The maiden, whose back is to the camera was a stripper that I cast from Delilah’s Den a popular strip club in Philadelphia. The maid was cast from a local talent agency. Her look and demeanor were perfectly suited to being the overworked submissive in the fantasy relationship.
The film was cross processed at a film processing lab to give the photo a cinematic feel. A few Type-C original vintage prints remain in the archives and are available for sale. Contact the studio for further information about the sale of this original image.