Robert Mapplethorpe was born on the 4th March 1946, and grew up as a Roman Catholic of English and Irish heritage in Queens, New York. He studied for a degree at the Pratt Institute in Brooklyn but dropped out in 1969 before finishing. He lived with his partner between the years of 1967-1974 and she supported him by working in bookstores. They created art together and even after they realised that he was gay, they still remained close.
In the 1970’s he acquired a Hasselblad medium format camera and he began to take photographs of his friends and acquaintances. In the 1980’s he started to photograph statuesque male and female nudes, flower still lifes especially orchids and calla lillies and portraits of artists and celebrities including Andy Warhol, Debby Harry, Richard Gere, Peter Gabriel, Grace Jones and Patti Smith. His sexually charged photographs of black men have been criticized as exploitative.
In 1986, Robert was diagnosed with AIDS. Despite his illness, he accelerated his creative efforts and accepted increasingly challenging commissions. Robert died on the morning of 9th March 1989, in Boston Massachusetts from complications arising from AIDS, he was 42. His ashes were buried in Queens in his mother’s grave marked Maxey.
I find that some of Roberts nude photographs are a little eccentric, even odd, you could probably put it down to his way of life. I love his vibrant flower photographs, the colours really stand out and even the black and white ones are fantastic. In his close up portraits, nobody appears to be smiling, most of the people look a little sad and I can't make up my mind whether I like these or not.
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