Robert Mapplethorpe

Self Portrait, 1975

Robert Mapplethorpe (Portfolio) was an iconic photographer of the 20th century-famous for his black and white provocative portraits of men. Robert was born and raised in Queens in a strict catholic family.

Mapplethorpe did not start out as a photographer. He studied drawing and graphic arts at Pratt in Brooklyn, and hobbied in mixed media collage. Robert was engaged in the avant garde scene of the city in the late 60s and early 70s; connecting with artists, musicians, and socialites living in the Chelsea Hotel. Mapplethorpe did much of his creating and artistic expression under the influence of psychedelic drugs such as LSD. The first camera he owned was a Polaroid and was mainly interested in photographing friends to integrate into his collages. The Light Gallery in NYC held a show of his Polaroids in 1973.

Robert acquired a Hasselblad camera and with the change in format came a change in subject as well. He began his professional career by taking Patti Smith's portrait for her album cover, and also party pictures for Interview Magazine. From here his career began to expand.

While exploring his sexuality, Mapplethorpe was photographing the New York City S&M scene. While his photographs where aesthetically pleasing to the eye, they also shocked, excited and disturbed audiences. Yet, perfection that Mapplethorpe strives for in his photographs of the male form make his work more serious.

As his career and scope expanded, he was showing at multiple galleries in New York and was even envited to show at Documenta 6 in Kassel Germany which is a famous festival of contemporary art. Eventually, the Robert Miller gallery became his exclusive dealer.


As times changed in the city and America welcomed the Reagan administration, Mapplethorpe's style was changing rapidly to more stylized, aesthetically pleasing images of the nude form and flowers. Mapplethorpe photographed flowers in a sensual manner just as Georgia O'keefe depicts them in her work.

When I visited the Accademia in Florence last year, I was surprised to see in the sculpture room a lone photograph of a nude male by Robert Mapplethorpe-it complimented and contrasted the classical sculpture so well. Seeing that piece really cemented the idea of a photographer's artistic influence on the past and present.

In 1989, Robert Mapplethorpe died from health complications due to AIDS. His provocative work can be seen in many art museums such as the Getty, MoMA, the Tate, and Guggenheim. 

Here is a video of Patti Smith talking about her relationship with Robert Mapplethorpe. Her book Just Kids includes a lot about their relationship, and exposes Robert as a kind and gentle person.

References

The Robert Mapplethorpe Foundation
http://www.mapplethorpe.org/

Getty Museum
http://www.getty.edu/art/gettyguide/artMakerDetails?maker=2969

The Tate
http://www.tate.org.uk/download/file/fid/12777