Wednesday, 3 December 2014

Mapplethorpe Notes

Bellow are some facts and information about Robert Mapplethorpe:

Facts from the internet:


  • Born in 1946 November 4th in Floral Park, Queens, New York, USA.
  • Died March 9th 1989 at the age of 42 in Boston, Massachusetts, USA, of aids.
  • Known for his sometimes controversial large-scale, highly stylized black and white photography.
  • His main work was celebrity portraits, male and female nudes, self-portraits and still-life images of flowers.
  • Most controversial work is that of the underground bondage and sadomasochistic BDSM scene in the late 1960s and early 1970s of New York.
  • The homoeroticism of this work fuelled a national debate over the public funding of controversial artwork.

Facts from the Mapplethorpe video:

  • Mapplethorpe is one of Americas most controversial photographers.
  • At the age of 16 Mapplethorpe trained at an art school.
  • Mapplethorpe used his friends as models for his work.
  • Most of his photography was in black and white.
  • Mapplethorpe would normally take photos of his own life that he lived, that being of a gay sexual nature.
  • His first portrait was of Patti Smith they use to live together and were friends. 
  • Lots of Mapplethorpe's controversial photography was of gay couples and often contained nudity.   
  • Some of Mapplethorpe's prints went for $15,000 and a shoot with him cost about $10,000.
  • Some of his work was used for album covers.
  • Lots of Mapplethorpe's work contained and made people aware of sex, violence, race discrimination and other such things.
  • He would normally use soft lighting.


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