Just look through the book (or visit the Web site). See that picture? Is a woman really being penetrated by a chair leg? What is coming out the neck of the pigtailed girl performing cunnilingus on the woman with frizzy hair? Sure, some of Ward's photos are a little camp (a true fairy godmother watches a couple copulate). Others a little too film noir -- who is the German in a top hat creeping up the stairs behind a pair of naked women? (The male model turns out to be Ward's father.) Once or twice Ward's vision is a little too retro-Helmut Newton, but when Ward is on target, an observer feels like a spy in some sublime brothel lodged in purgatory.

In a phone conversation, Ward reveals a fascinating connection between staging these photographs and a parlor game practiced in 19th century bourgeois households. He also says that the sexual tension in his pictures is very real -- Ward doesn't practice "safe photo shoots." But before we talk about these things, let's get Bill Clinton out of the way.

When I was setting up our interview, your wife started saying something about a photo of Bill Clinton. I didn't know what she was talking about. I worried that I was about to interview the wrong Tony Ward, some Washington photographer who took pictures of politicians.

[Laughs.] We had every intention of publishing the Clinton photo in "Tableaux Vivants," but the publisher decided against it. He feared being sued by the former president. I thought that was ridiculous. I thought under parody laws we would be fine, but he didn't want to risk it.

You took the photo during the Monica Lewinsky scandal?

Way before. I picked up some of the early blurbs in the press about Paula Jones. The photo was just waiting around to be run. Now, everyone knows that President Clinton has these strong sexual desires. That's partly what makes him as powerful as he is.

The images that did make "Tableaux Vivants" are extraordinary.

My passion for the past 10 years has been to delve into the area of what defines porn and what defines art. We all have a certain notion of what a pornographic image is -- we've certainly seen enough of them. I feel there is a big chasm in the art world where a blind eye has been turned toward the erotic art world.

What is "erotic art" as opposed to just "art."

If you were to look at a close-up of a breast as a still life, then it would be fine. That's "art." But if you see the breast as a sex object -- well, there lies the rub. I'm always playing with that -- how we perceive things. Part of my goal is to make the erotic in my pictures at least the equivalent of a landscape.

My favorite photo is the one of two women dancing together in a wine cellar under the gaze of a burly barebacked guy. There's something going on. But what? It's like some outtake from "Kiss Me, Deadly."

The whole premise of the tableau is to set up a metaphor for the mind. To create ambiguity in the viewer. That particular image was shot some years ago in New York. The girl facing the picture was the former lesbian lover of Madonna. I was trying at that point to get real people who had some renown in these circumstances to create a bit of sensation.

How many outtakes are there until you get the scene perfect?

I don't have many outtakes at all. The way the tableaux happen is that it's like a theater piece. All the people involved in the pictures know that we're creating live theater. The picture is the end result of the production. Each person has a role that I discuss with them. Once all the lighting, the hair and makeup, and the conversation between the actors takes place, I put them in this setting to say goodbye to all the players. The photograph is just the end result of a play that we did among ourselves.

So you're saying it's an improvised theater piece with the photograph being the climax?

Let me explain. The tableau vivant was a theater game in the 19th century that existed long before radio and television. People would depict scenes from paintings as a form of entertainment. They would gather at someone's home. Have wine and cheese. Nice conversation. Then as the evening was winding down, they would costume themselves and go into a pose for a predetermined amount of time. It signaled the end of the evening. I had done some reading about this and realized that I had never seen a complete set of works that reinvigorated the practice of the 19th century theater game.

Is this something you're going to continue?

No. That body of work is finished. There are roughly 60 images in the set. Most of them were done between 1993 and 1996. Then they started to taper off because I got involved in other projects.

Are you interested in doing movies?

I've been asked that quite a lot. I am interested certainly from a directorial standpoint. I would like to get my feet wet, but I haven't had the right project yet. People in the porn industry approached me about various possibilities, but none of the concepts have intrigued me.

Did you take photographs as a kid?

I started taking pictures in 1974 when I was a sophomore in college. I'm 46 now. I guess I was a kid. Oh, some people say, "When I was 5 years old ..." No, I'm a late bloomer.