“Beauty lights the brain and is its own reward. Playboy is that visual feast of beauty and that reward…. a celebration of glamour and the good life, and a reflection of my own romantic views of women. It’s the girl next door as part of a positive, life-affirming attitude toward sexuality, of female emancipation rather than exploitation. Playboy is a statement that good girls like sex, too.
Stephen Wayda is an internationally
published photographer best known for his demonstrative images of celebrities, women. and lifestyles. In his creation of entertaining and compelling images he is regarded as a master in the use of composition and light, both natural and artificial.
Wayda’s photographs of A-list celebrities, Pop Culture icons, supermodels, musicians and the “girl next door” are a depiction of personality and, most of all, attitude. He is known for his use of light and composition to create a mood of realism that captures the intimacy and openness of his subjects, bringing out those fleeing moments of their humanity and their sense of self.
At Playboy, where he photographed the most celebrities, covers, women and pictorials in the magazine’s history, he was joined by many of the world’s most influential, celebrated and noted photographers in creating iconic, controversial and celebrated images.
His photographs have been sold and exhibited at Christie’s, Art Basel, the Aspen Art Festival, Mutual Art, Boetto Auction House, Gallery M, Kavachnina Contemporary and currently PICKHOBI Gallery Istanbul.
As a contributing photographer for Playboy magazine, Playboy Publisher Hugh M. Hefner stated:
"For over 30 years Stephen Wayda has shared my dream and vision. From an inauspicious start at Playboy, he has become the most published photographer in the history of Playboy. His photographs have helped Playboy in changing the way the world looks at women, and changed the way women look at the world. His influence on photography cannot be overstated. His evolving styles, his sense of sexuality coupled with the personality of his photographic subjects brought the Playboy dream, from the fantasy of decadence and passion in Paris, to the charm of the girl next door in the wheat fields of Texas, to life."
