Image Bank

These images are all examples of Mapplethorpe's portraits, in my opinion these are very effective because Mapplethorpe fills the composition and his models facial expressions also give the composition more depth and meaning. The bottom four images in this image bank are all self portraits and some people say that he may have taken these as a way of exploring himself and his sexuality. I think his images are all very effective and find that his photography has a lot of meaning such as him photographing things to represent sexuality and the gay community. I would like to replicate him photography and do not think it would be too difficult to replicate as he often controls the models expression to seem very serious. 

This is one of Mapplethorpe's portraits of an older gentlemen. I like this image very much because I feel that the composition has been thought about very much as with this the models face is not in the whole of the frame, I think this works because we can see what he is wearing and it gives us an insight into what type of person he is. I also like how the model is pulling a very natural facial expression and looking directly at the camera. 

This is another of Mapplethorpe's portrait photographs however this is slightly different to some of his others due to being a self-portrait. I think this photograph works very well because Mapplethorpe has used very harsh lighting which links in well with him wearing a leather jacket and smoking. The composition of this is good because he has included his face above the middle of the picture.