Chad Michael Ward

Powerful, dangerous and raw are all words that have been used to describe his work

Like something out of a beautiful nightmare, Chad Michael Ward is simply remarkable. I've had the pleasure of getting to know Chad this past year, yet I've been familiar with his work for several.

We met via MySpace and quickly decided we had to work together. I met with Chad at his studio in Los Angeles and found him to be extremely approachable and honest. At heart he is a true artist with a need to express himself in a variety of ways. Yet he lacks the aloof attitude that far too many artists practice. The rest of the day was filled with crazy photo shoots and me picking his brain.

Powerful, dangerous and raw are all words that have been used to describe Chad Michael Ward's work. Even before the 2003 release of his first book Black Rust, Chad's artwork had been a staple in the Gothic subculture. He has shot some of the most famous alternative models and rock bands of our time. His client list is impressive and includes Collide, White Wolf Games, New Line Cinema and Century Media, among others. Some of his previous work has also included shooting stills and designing for Marilyn Manson and Static-X. When asked how he became the stills photographer for these groups Chad said "Usually just being in the right place at the right time. Manson approached me after seeing my book Black Rust that I had given his then-girlfriend Dita during a shoot. I met and shot Static-X on the set of a music video they were doing with my director friend Nathan "Karma" Cox who had invited me out to shoot stills that day." Chad was also brought on as a concept artist/stills photographer for Nathan "Karma" Cox's music video with The Rasmus. Ward has also acted as production designer on music videos for Combichrist, Against Me!, Natalia Lesz and William Control.

In the past six years he has released four additional art books including Autopsyrotica, Devil Engine and the newly published Dangerous Beauties. All of his books have their own distinctive personality. Autopsyrotica is an engrossing look at the lines between sex and death, Devil Engine is a visual roller coaster of good and evil and Dangerous Beauties seems to be his love letter to all the amazing models he's captured. Ward's talent extends from photography to graphic / production design and into directing. In fact, filmmaking seems to be on his long term agenda. "For me, filmmaking is the ultimate goal," Chad remarked. "At the moment, I've directed five music videos and one, as yet unreleased, short film entitled Fable. I've got tentative plans to do a feature-length exploitation film next year. My dream project would be to do an epic sci-fi horror film based on one of my comic book scripts." Chad's music videos have been for groups such as Aiden, D’Amato, Dragon Lord and Derek Sherinian featuring Billy Idol and Slash.

Chad Michael Ward might just be one of the only artists who can pull off designing DVD menu pages for Manson, shooting erotica, directing music videos and making the covers for the re-released The Vampire Diaries books. His mediums and projects are varied but he remains consistently a storyteller. "(It's) just an instinct that I've always had within me. For as long as I can remember I've had the passion to tell stories -either through writing, art, photography and/or film. It's something that grows stronger with each passing year, so much that I finally had "Storyteller" tattooed across my chest earlier this year."

What’s really striking about his work is the contrast of showing both fetish and raw human emotion in the same photo. The best example of this would be his photo project entitled "The Pain Box", which was shot in an abandon hospital in Los Angeles. The series, shot throughout 2006, depicts haunting images of distressed patients, monsters and gore. Even through the highly sexual, often times horrific images, Chad finds an undiscovered beauty in his subjects. He is able to capture real emotions in his photos, while still making them stylized.

When asked about the process that goes into creating such a balance Chad replied "I actually don't have a specific thought process. Some of my imagery comes to me in dreams, others just as sudden, random thoughts. Most of my work is organic and created on the spot as the mood hits me. Outside of a few very specific images, I tend to work fairly spontaneously." While he draws inspiration from "everywhere", Chad admits his greatest challenge can be "staying unique and original," adding that "honing and improving my craft and my discipline is a daily battle. My next book Sick is still very much in progress and I'd love to be able to release in sometime in late 2010."

His latest book Dangerous Beauties is available online at blurb.com/bookstore/detail/434399. You can view more of Chad's work at digitalapocalypse.com. 

Copyright 2009 Gothic Beauty Magazine. All rights reserved. This article may not be republished or rewritten.