portraits...
Robert Mapplethorpe is best known for his work of celebrity portraits, male and female nude photography and self-portraits...
All of the photos above are captured in a low key setup, using a grey or black background, which is a common theme in Mapplethorpe's portraiture. the photo on the left shows a man turning his head and Mapplethorpe would have captured this photo with a slow shutter speed due to the motion blur. this gives this photo a ghostly effect as a result of this white blur. The centre photo shows a women with closed eyes, this photo seems rather elegant but lacks emotion due to the eyes not being open. the right photo is one of Mapplethorpe's self-portraits and is a simple photo of him facing straight forward. the background of this photo is slightly lighter than the others however the light is still fully focused on his face bringing out different tones on the left side of the image.
still life...
Penn also used modernist still life of bones, food, bottles, metal and randomly found objects in his work...
Mapplethorpe's still life work is mainly flowers photographed in black and white however some of his shoots do contain coloured pictures of the flowers. His still life work is very effective due to it being very minimalistic. The black and white flowers above are photographed quite effectively in due to the tone that is able to be shown on the flowers petal which allows certain details and elements in the picture to be highlighted. For example the bottom centre picture shows a rose and the lighting and tones on this picture allow the different layers of the rose to be brought out as well as the water droplets on the petals surface.
Mapplethorpe's lily photos very powerful and are able to relate to his own life as he was diagnosed with AIDS and these images were able to show how everything is not as it seems as he showed beauty through the images but the flowers were also slowing dying because they have been cut at the stem.
Mapplethorpe's lily photos very powerful and are able to relate to his own life as he was diagnosed with AIDS and these images were able to show how everything is not as it seems as he showed beauty through the images but the flowers were also slowing dying because they have been cut at the stem.