As I've
said many times before..... one afternoon in the year of
1986 I was thumbing threw a copy of INTOUCH magazine
(defunct gay soft-porn magazine) and I came across this
layout with a model named ANTHONY BORDEN WARD. The
photos were amateurish (although now considered
classic!), but the model - breathtaking, very
photogenic, and extremely sexy. He had an innocently
lustful quality that was very rare. He was so
comfortable within his body, that the images didn't look
seedy, they looked almost classic like a modern day
Bottecelli. ! I thought immediately of a young Joe
Dallesandro, or a male Bettie Page. All the sex & lust,
mixed with charm, sweetness & fun.
I was
working as a stylist (I wasn't a photographer as of yet)
for Albert Sanchez for INSTYLE magazine, a male fashion
magazine that was an offshoot of InTouch. I had come up
with this idea to re-create Paul Cadmus paintings as
fashion photographs called CADMUS RED. I showed Albert
these images of Tony, thinking he would be perfect for
the drunken sailor in a layout called- SAILORS AND
FLOOZIES. Albert whole-heartedly agreed, so I called the
phone number at the end of the InTouch spread that read-
Anthony
Borden Ward's management- 619 XXX- XXXXX. I reached his
"manager" and told him my idea, to which he replied, "If
you can pay for his bus fare, you got him!" And the rest
as we say is HIS-STORY.
We
became friends immediately. I found him so endearing. He
was VERY quiet and shy, so non-jaded. He didn't have any
experience with the big city and the industry - he was a
virgin! He told me this funny story about how he was
living in Santa Rosa working as a pizza delivery person
and was so bored with his life, that he feel asleep at
the wheel and crashed into a tree! This made him realize
that he had to explore other career opportunities.
During
the Cadmus Red shoot I asked Tony to model for me,
wearing some leather accessories. These and the sailor
images, (which I called Queerelle) were some of the 1st
photographs I ever created as a photographer.
During
1987 I created a mens clothing line for Michele Lamy,
and used Tony as my house model. The clothes were fitted
to him, and Tony was the model for all the publicity and
fashion shows. I photographed the entire line with Tony.
Later, Matthew Ralston photographed him for the
advertisement. I took Tony to NYC and presented him as
the grand finally of my fashion show wearing a silver
lame jock strap. DNR, (Daily News Record) panned both of
us, calling my line, "a male Fredrick's of Hollywood”
and Tony "just too california!”.
Also
around this time my stylist partner and i showed Tony's
polaroids to Herb Ritts. We had been working with Ritts
for about 4 years creating his early editorial images.
Herb didn't think much of Tony and was concerned about
his nose. Thought it was too big, but he liked his body,
so subsequently Tony became the body for the first
Calvin Klein underwear box. Soon after that Herb invited
Tony to his birthday party and introduced him to a pop
star. They became dates. I didn't see Tony during this
time as he became famous for 15 minutes.
In 1995,
I was writing a script for my first feature film called
HUSTLER WHITE, to be co- directed with Bruce LaBruce. We
had originally cast the lead of Montgomery Ward to a guy
I knew who's name was Monty. During pre-production,
Monty got his girlfriend pregnant. Stoled a car, guitar
and original John- Wayne gacy paintings from one of our
actors- Glen Meadmore, so we decided he'd be a liability
for the production. I had originally thought of Tony as
the lead, but assumed he was now too much of a star to
bother with something like our little indie film. Out of
desperation, I called Tony and asked him to just read
the script and see what he thought. Tony called me back
within 3 hours and said he definitely wanted to do the
film. We began shooting the next week. The shoot was
frantic and exhilarating. We shot the entire film in 10
days.. Tony and I became even closer during the shoot
and stayed in touch.
Then we
went on a world tour with HUSTLER WHITE presenting to
sold out screenings, first at Sundance, (1996) then
Berlin, London, Tokyo, San Francisco, Los Angeles and
New York.
Since
then Tony Ward has been an erratic, yet consistent part
of my life, he even lived with me for a short while. I
photograph him a few times each year for various
projects.
In 2005
I opened the first fetish art gallery in America,
(perhaps the world) called ANTEBELLUM. I have exhibited
and sold Tony's original artwork and photography,
including self-portraits. The restroom of the gallery
has been renamed the TONY WARD TOILET, a permanent
exhibit of various images of Tony created by him, myself
and others.
We are
now into our late 40's. I have had many career changes
and lived the highs & lows of a creative life. Tony has
a wife and three kids, and STILL models!
I plan
to photograph Tony Ward until the day I die, or he.
Whichever comes first.
Rick
Castro, April 2007
www.rickcastro.com
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THE FIRST PROFESSIONAL PHOTOS RICK CASTRO
EVER TOOK OF TONY WARD - 1986.
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QUEERELLE by RICK CASTRO - 1986
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