Robert Mapplethorpe
Born: 1946 in New York
Died: 1989 of AIDS
· Lived in suburban American as a child however
moved to Brooklyn at the age of 16.
·
Went to the Pratte institute of art, which is
where he was introduced to photography and where he also met his close friend
Patti Smith.
·
He is best known for his portraits, mainly black
and white, which were occasionally used on album covers.
·
He documented Manhattans gay community, this
caused some controversy because he was also part of the gay community.
·
He was brought up as a catholic and when he came
out as gay he told his mother but not his father.
·
He also did some photography of flowers which
were very effective however he did this purely for the money.
·
Americas most controversial photographer
·
Transformed the face of Americas fashion
industry
·
In his portraits we see between mainstream and
AC’s drug underworld
·
He knew how to get money
·
Focused on sex, violence and race
·
His work is ambiguous
·
He didn’t set out to shock, he was being selfish
and it was about what he wanted to see
·
Greatest American photographer of 70’s and 80’s
·
Content of his photographs is controversial
·
Bridged the gap between shocking and sensible
·
“Robert captures people, he really captures
people”
·
Best friend Patti Smith was his flat mate
·
Always very positive, never negative
·
His signed portraits sold for $15,000
·
“one mans celebration is another mans decadence”
·
Felt obliged to photograph people in a way that
had not been done before
He was photographing the life he lived.
No comments:
Post a Comment