The Work Of Robert Mapplethorpe

Robert Mapplethorpe is known for his large-scale, highly stylized, black and white portraits, flowers and portraits, and of nude men. He was huge in the 70's and 80's until he died of aids at the end of the decade. Looking over his work now, is it the right time for a resurgence for Mapplethorpe? Or does it seem dated I hear you cry? 

He loved to do portraits of flowers, especially orchirds and calla lillies. However, a huge amount of his work focused on homoerotica and BDSM. His X Portfolio was one of his most explicit, featuring imagery which sparked huge controversy in his travelling exhibition, The Perfect Moment, as it was funded by the National Endowment for the Arts.

Andy Warhol & Grace Jones by Mapplethorpe.

Jennifer Jakobson 1980, Self Portrait 1980/1999, Miguel Cruz 1986

German GQ recently relived his work using James Franco. I think this was a clever move on their behalf as he's quite current in the film industry right now so it's making people aware of his work, that maybe weren't before.

His sexually charged photos of black men where critiqued for being exploitive. Would I see his work as becoming relevant today? I'm not sure. Being in the age of the 'water shed' and having systems such as Ofcom where people can complain about the silliest of things that can be seen as offence to them or not acceptable viewing for their children I think the reaction wouldn't be good.

However, some of his fashion imagery I feel is still quite nice such as the above image of Grace Jones, a long with his inoffensive portraits with Andy Warhol. I like black and white imagery, and don't view it as dated but classic, and would easily browse through more of his work like the above.

If intrigued, do google his work, but be aware some of it is quite 'out there' to say the least and isn't for the faint hearted so do so with caution. 

The Work of Bert Stern

Bert Stern was a legendary figure in the world of contemporary photography. With him sadly dying in the past month, I decided to take a look into his work, as I hadn't really seen much of it.

Even with just one simple google search, a lot of the images that appeared on the first page where images I've seen before, but haven't realised he was the photographer. He began he's career as a mail-room boy at Look Magazine where he formed a close relationship with young staff photographer Stanley Kubrick.

He's mostly known for the collection of work 'The Last Sitting' which consists of 2,500 photographs of Marilyn Monroe for Vogue which were shot over a three day period six weeks before her death. The images have been published into a book, first back in 1982, and again in 2000, which you can still purchase to this date. He's also photographed Lindsay Lohan imitating this very same shoot (can you spot which one she is in the photos below? CHEEKY CHALLENGE. Along with Marilyn and Lindsay, he's also photographed Audrey Hepburn, Elizabeth Taylor and Madonna just to name a few.

As well as snapping A-listers, Bert launched his career with the infamous 'Driest of the Dry' Smirnoff Vodka campaign which saw a rise in sales that no one could of imagined, this is what rocketed his career at the tender age of 25 and made America into a vodka drinking country.

Sterns use of imagery really catches a moment, as if the camera wasn't there in the first place; natural. This is what I really love about it, and for future projects use him as big inspiration.

Blumenfeld Studio: New York Exhibition

Today I went to Somerset House to see the Blumenfeld Studio exhibition that has recently started there.  It features the work of Berlin-born Erwin Blumenfeld, who was one of the most sought after portrait and fashion photographers of the 1940's-50's. I was amazed at the amount of Harpers and Vogue covers he's done. A long with his work, it was also so interesting to see the Vogue's from the 1940's onwards. Me and fellow Ravensbourne Student Lizzy were discussing how they actually print the text and illustrations onto the page, which we still don't know! If anyone does be sure to comment below as I still want to find out.

Some of his works were so interesting to see. My tutor asked us as a group if we found it interesting or quite boring and 'old' to look at but I did actually find it interesting to see such a big fashion photographers work as I'd previously seen the Tim Walker exhibition there last year. However it was annoying that they didn't have copyright of the images so we weren't allowed to take pictures. But I have sourced some of his images online if you want to see the sort of work he did.

The exhibition focuses on his work from his studio 222 Central Park South in New York. There are over 100 of his original colour photographers. Our tutor wanted us to focus on how he positioned some of the models in and the general composition of the photos to help us better our own photography. There was one particular photo which looked as if the model was submerged in water but she was actually just placed behind fuzzy glass like what you'd find in your bathroom! It's funny tricks like these which can produce some really intriguing photos, and gives me tips to make better images myself.

One of my personal favs featured close up shots of a model smoking a cigarette and it really focuses in on the smoke. For some reason this series of images really caught my eye the most. I've featured them below with other examples of his work. If this entices you, definitely get down to Somerset House for the exhibition. You have till September!