Robert Mapplethorpe
Robert Mapplethorpe (1946-1989) was an iconic photographer of male nudes. At the start of his career in 1973, people received an invitation to Mapplethorpe's first show of his Polaroid photos in the back room of New York's LIGHT gallery. When they opened the invitation, they saw the photo above with an adhesive dot.
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And when they removed the dot, they saw this self-portrait of Mapplethorpe with his camera.
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Here's another 1973 Mapplethorpe self-portrait.
If you want to know what the rest of Mapplethorpe looked like, here's a 1978 self-portrait with a whip up his butt.
Of course he didn't just take self-portraits. This photo is called "John NYC", 1978.
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Marcus Leatherdale, 1978.
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Ron Sims, 1978.
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Scott Daley, 1979.
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Charles Bowman, 1980.
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Dennis Speight, NYC, 1980.
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Man in Polyester Suit, 1980. The model is Milton Moore, Mapplethorpe's lover. In 2015, this photo sold at auction for $478,000.
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Bob Love, NYC, 1981.
We end with Thomas, 1987, but there are hundreds more Mapplethorpe nude male photos.
Robert Mapplethorpe died of AIDS in 1989 at age 42.
8 comments:
I think the Erotic Museum here has a couple of his photos....
The whole range of his photography, from portraits of women and florals, to constructions and portraiture, his mastery of photography remains top-notch.
I like his work.
Some links:
https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Mapplethorpe-10
https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/7477198/robert-mapplethorpe
https://www.familysearch.org/en/tree/person/details/GQVG-N7S
Maplethorpe became well known because he was promoted by his well connected lover Sam Wagstaff, and because he practiced "Épater la bourgeoisie." I find Peter Hujar, another gay photographer from the same time on New York a much better artist.
Mapplethorpe was a mixed bag.
Praised in the photography and arts community for his talent and pushing boundaries. Many who posed for Mapplethorpe were happy with their interactions with him and the results, others less so. Physique model and leather scene icon Roger Koch aka Frank Vickers had posed for Mapplethorpe. When Koch was asked about Mapplethorpe, he stated “I have nothing good to say !”
Gryf
What a pioneer!!!
Holy F, Scott Daley?? He was one of the first Playgirl centerfolds (Feb 1980) I ever had & thought he was the hottest thing! he didn't have the beard anymore then
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