Mapplethorpe Studio 2 Straights Images

Mapplethorpe Video Notes

Notes

Born November 4 1946

Raised in Queens, New York

Brought up Catholic

Educated at PRAT

Lived with Patti Smith

Died March 9 1989

Photos were nearly excessively in black and white

His photos were of his life

Everything was going on around him

Mapplethorpe was openly gay and this was shown in his work

Came out to his Mother but not his Farther

He didn't want to shock the audience but engage them

Incredible self portraits

Took photos of both celebrities and normal people

Work is very controversial 

Took many amazing portrait photos

Photos of Andy Warhol, Patti Smith and Arnold Schwarzenegger 

Took photos of flowers for money

Work Diary Mapplethorpe Studio

Work Diary

In this session, we went into the studio to continue work on Mapplethorpe, learning from last time that my compassion was off slightly, I decided that this time I was going to be careful and think about what I was doing. This time round, I didn't have to retake anything and I believe that i had captured Mapplethorpe in the best way that I could. 

Here you can see there is less background and the camera is focused on the model, there is no unnecessary background colours or objects it's just a portrait and that is clear to see. This is a good example of a portrait that represents Mapplethorpe, the way he takes portraits of just people being people, the compassion of the photo and the overall feel, to improve though I would use tone to give it a bigger Mapplethorpe feel.  

This photo is again very Mapplethorpe, in fact I copied a Mapplethorpe picture here and did my best to create the feeling the Mapplethorpe does in his portraits, I do like this image but I'm not sure it quite has the same effect at Mapplethorpe does in his photos. 

To improve me next time, i would like more time to do this kind of work, I do really enjoy it and find it interesting, it would also help perfect my compassion as I'm still aware that not all my photos are perfect. 

Work Diary Mapplethorpe Location

Work Diary

In this session, we went out on location to replicate Robert Mapplethorpe's work, I found this slightly difficult as I had to work on my compassion of portraits, I had to go out a second time to ensure I had a suffocate amount of decent photos, the second time i went out i found it easier and accomplished a lot more as I was now aware of what i needed to focus on. 

This a photo taken from the fist part of the session as you can see there are a lot of unnecessary things in the photo for example the white strip above the model's head and the brownish box near the upper left corner. 

This was taken front the second part of the session, it looks a lot better not that i removed everything unnecessary from the photo, it looks cleaner and smoother and shows Mapplethorpe in portraits. 

To improve, I'd like to to work on my compassion and get it right the first time without wasting time. 

Mapplethorpe Studio Straight Images

Mapplethorpe Location Straight Images

Mapplethorpe Portrait Image Bank

In this self portrait, Mapplethorpe is formally dressed, he's striking a powerful pose perhaps to represent sexuality at the time where men were seen as more powerful and strong as a gender. This image shows a man at his best, in a tuxedo and dressed up.

Another self portrait by Mapplethorpe, this image shows power in a different, from using depth and form he creates this power of a silent leader of sorts. I get the senses of danger from the characters cane, maybe it represents the violence in his life. 

This image shows emotions of sadness and pain, we don't know hat could have happened to this character. This picture puts in you thought as you try to work out what has happened and why this person seems sad, this is brought out through the use of form. 

This image in my opinion symbols women at the time, they didn't have much free speech in the 70s, it was getting better at the time but still many women were stereotyped to be house wives. Mapplethorpe portrays this through the tape mourn the mouth. 

This is the opposite of the image above, this one shows women acting against the stereotype, she has short hair like a boy, its messy, her clothes are considered very male and the the cigarette implies the deviation from social norms. 

This image represents the Bettles, it shows the writing stage, deep thought and beginning something new and unique.