Mapplethorpe Video Notes

Robert Mapplethorpe

• Born in 1946 in New York
• Died in 1989 of HIV
• Patty Smith was his life long friend whom he met at an institute of art
• Mapplethorpe is mainly known for his portraits
• Some of his work has been used as album artwork
• His photos are mainly in black and white
• He was part of Manhattan's gay community but was raised as a Catholic
• Known as American's most controversial photographer because is his work art or is it pornography?
• Mapplethorpe challenges the limits of acceptability for his work are touching and revealing
• Despite the content of the photographs being controversial, they are very high quality but simple
• His work manages to capture the individual through simple shots that give them 'edge'
• Throughout his work, he has focused on portraiture and still life

• He focused on still life to make money and explore the different effects lighting had on the scenes
• "His photos show the struggle between good and evil, heaven and earth"
• Throughout his work there is a sense of humour present

• His work is rather expensive as it captures a moment that no one is familiar with
• Mapplethorpe has desire to be unique in himself and through his work
• His photos shows sexual violence and some show personal experiences

• The portraits he took were natural, there was no set up, the photos were right for the moment
• Mapplethorpe's photographs were of the time he lived in

My Best 40 Photographs

Straight Images- Mapplethorpe Studio

Work Diary- Studio Contrast 2

Evaluation 

The topic in todays session had already been covered in a previous session, studio contrast. When I had done this topic before, I found it quite difficult to find clear contrasts which were different to each other. However, today I approached the session with a much more simpler idea of contrast and with this approach I managed to capture twice as many photographs than last time. 
This is my favourite photograph of todays session because I like the position of the individuals but also I believe it shows several contrasts within. It shows contrast of gender, hair colour and hair length. I also like the contrast between the light clothes and the darker background.

 This is another photograph from the session, it is rather simple and the simple concept of half of the face covered and the other half uncovered does show contrast despite the simplicity of it. Alike the one above, there is contrast between the black background and the clothing.

Progression

I feel that having completed 2 shoots of studio contrast,  I don't want to progress with contrast further because I have captured a wide range of shoots which demonstrate it. However, if given the opportunity, I would want to use the studio to capture contrast between objects rather than people. Photograph differences in shapes and colours of objects for example.

Work Diary- Location Contrast 2

Evaluation
In todays session, the topic was location contrast 2 which allowed me to expand and get different shots of contrast. I approached the topic believing that it would be easy to capture contrast as previously i had captured quite a lot of photos for the same topic. However, in this session i found it a bit harder to do because everything was very similar to last session. I feel that because i captured a lot of shots last session, it limited me to contrasts which were different. 

Below are my 2 favourite photographs of the session. The first is quite a simple and obvious contrast, the difference between the black and the white stripes. I like this particular photograph as I feel that despite the simplicity of the image, contrast is shown rather well. Also, I like the way how depth and is incorporated within the image because the stripes are getting thinner as they get further away.

The contrast in this photograph is not as obvious as the one above. The contrast is the idea of wet and dry ground as there is a puddle but around it is dry ground. I particularly like how the puddle shows that there is light being projected into it. This could then be considered as another contrast because there is a light area of the puddle but also a darker area.

Progression

I think having done this topic twice now, I wouldn't want to progress further with it. I enjoyed the topic in the first session because there were a lot of different contrasts available, where as in the second session it was limited to the new contrasts available to the location.

Work Diary- Location Contrast

Evaluation
In todays session, the topic was contrast but this time it was to be taken at different locations. When searching for contrast through different locations I was trying to capture both conceptual and physical examples. For example, an open and a closed window would be more of a conceptual difference. I found capturing shots of the conceptual examples more difficult than it was the simple physical ones. Overall I managed to capture quite a lot of shots in todays session which I feel portrayed contrast quite well and I quite enjoyed the session.

This photograph below is my favourite one I got from the shoot. It is a very simple photo but there is huge contrast between the brightness of the green and the dullness of the grey. There is also contrast in the sense that the bricks are manmade whilst the moss between them is natural. 

 I also feel that this photograph shows contrast quite simply in the differences of the colours of the bricks. I like how there is the line between which is separating the two different colours. However, if I was to be able to edit or retake this photo again I would want to make sure that the line is vertical and also that there would be equal spread of the two different colours.

Progression

I would like to progress further in this topic by looking at more natural contrasts because in this session I have mainly focused on manmade objects whereby the contrast is very obvious. I would want to try and capture contrasts between the colours of leaves but also other differences such as wet and dry, light and dark. I would also like to try and capture contrasts in a different location where they may be more differences. 

Work Diary- Walk 2

Evaluation
In todays session we went on another autumn walk which followed a pretty similar route to walk 1. The topics for the session were also the same as the previous walk being back of heads location, autumn colours and journey. However, because the last walk I didn't capture many back of head shots that was a main focus for me in this one. I feel that in this session I managed to capture shots which demonstrated all of the topics. Overall I managed to get a wide range of images  which meant that I had choice when it came to editing the photographs. 

This photograph of the leaves is one of my favourite for I like the boldness of the yellow and I feel that the colours enhance the shape of the leaves. Because of this I believe that this photo demonstrates the topic of autumn colours rather well.

In addition I also like this particular photograph for it creates a sense of journey both physically and conceptually.  It shows it physically in the sense of the movement of the people walking but it also shows it conceptually because of the idea of 'there's light at the end of the tunnel'.

Progression

Having done two walks now,  I don't feel that I would like to do this particular walk again. However,  if it were to be a different route with different topics I would consider it for it would be interesting to see how different locations differ. Also I would like to do it in different weather conditions such as sun or snow.