One of my images that I submitted for this unit was in the style of the famous and controversial New York photographer, Robert Mapplethorpe (1946-1989). I first heard his name in an interview with Bats for Lashes star, Natasha Khan, talking about why she went nude on the front of her recent album, The Haunted Man: "‘I always liked Robert Mapplethorpe’s photography: that
tradition of raw depictions of the human body, rather than the airbrushed,
lip-glossed “sexiness” you see a lot today" (1). I thought about this statement, and I was intrigued by the man who influenced the album cover below:
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| The album cover for The Haunted Man by Bats for Lashes, posed by their lead singer, Natasha Khan (2012).
It wasn't long before I heard his name again: this time whilst having a conversation with one of the tutors on the course. By now it was quite evident to me that Mapplethorpe was "the guy that did nudes". Motivated by intrigue, I took a look at some of his work, and could see immediately where Khan got her ideas.
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His nudes appear to be more than just photographs; rather complete studies of the human form, shot in monochrome to elucidate each muscle and sinew in a range of poetic compositions. He began shooting in polaroid, but it wasn't until acquiring a Hassleblad Medium format (which he used to shoot his inner circle from the New York gay scene) that his work came into its own. Above I used the word 'controversial', a word often bandied about when someone attempts to do something outside the confines of what is regarded as acceptable at that time. It is a word often used in the art world, along with accusations that an artist's sole intention is to shock audiences (2): "I don't like that particular word 'shocking.' I'm looking
for the unexpected. I'm looking for things I've never seen before … I was in a
position to take those pictures. I felt an obligation to do them" (3).
Along with his nudes, he was also renowned for his interesting depictions of flowers, almost affording them the same characteristics as his work on the human form, and shooting them in similar thought-provoking compositions. After all, they are living forms:
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| This one seems to be about the interplay between the two flowers, almost as if they are in relationship, the top one yearning for the other like some medieval damsel. |
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| The shadow is very strong here, making an everyday flower appear like some demonic presence (with horns). |
He was also renowned for compiling a series of head-shots of famous people at the cutting edge of the New York scene around the same time, and known for his own trademark style in shooting these portraits. Indeed, for this brief I spent a little time in the studio attempting to shoot my own version using this style. I will go into this technique in more detail in another post, but for now I will show another three examples; just to whet your appetite.
2) There may be a subsequent post on this issue focussing Andres Serrano, another photographer who is meant to "shock".
3) Robert Mapplethorpe quoted on his website: http://www.mapplethorpe.org/biography/
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