Robert Mapplethorpe

WAVES, 1980

• Robert Mapplethorpe (°1946, USA)
• gelatin silver print
• 35.6 x 35.8cm

‘Mapplethorpe rarely photographed nature outside in the raw and wild. The sea, with its changeable and unpredictable moods, would seem to be an unlikely subject for him, but the way that he tackles it gives it order and regularity - elements that are central to Mapplethorpe’s aesthetic.’ – Tate (online)

After studying drawing, painting and sculpture at the Pratt Institute in the 1960s, Robert Mapplethorpe began experimenting with photography while living in the notorious Chelsea Hotel with Patti Smith. Beginning with Polaroids, he soon moved on to a Hasselblad medium-format camera, which he used to explore aspects of life often only seen behind closed doors.

By the 1980s Mapplethorpe's focus was predominantly in the studio, shooting portraits, flowers and nudes. His depiction of the human form in formal compositions reflects his love of classical sculpture and his groundbreaking marriage of those aesthetics with often challenging subject matter. Mapplethorpe's style is present regardless of subject matter — from erotic nudes to self-portraits and flowers — as he ceaselessly strove for what he called ‘perfection of form.’