Robert Mapplethorpe

Robert Mapplethorpe (November 4, 1946 - March 9, 1989) was an American photographer, famous for his large-scale, highly-stylized black & white portraits, photos of flowers and male nudes. The frank, erotic nature of some of the work of his middle period triggered a more general controversy about the public funding of artworks.

Biography

Mapplethorpe was born and grew up as a Catholic in Floral Park, Long Island, New York of English and Irish extraction. He received a B.F.A. from Pratt Institute in Brooklyn, where he produced artwork in a variety of media. Mapplethorpe took his first photographs soon thereafter, using a Polaroid camera. In the mid-1970s, he acquired a large-format press camera and began taking photographs of a wide circle of friends and acquaintances, including artists, composers, socialites, pornographic film stars, and visitors to the underground sex clubs. During the 1980s, his photographs became more refined with an emphasis on formal beauty. He concentrated on statuesque male and female nudes, delicate flower still lifes, and formal portraits of artists and celebrities.

Related Topics:
Floral Park - Long Island - New York - B.F.A. - Pratt Institute - Brooklyn - Polaroid camera

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