Robert Mapplethorpe’s Body of Photographic Work

This essay will discuss the nature of Robert Mapplethorpe’s body of work and relation between his S&M photographs, portraits and nudes according to his own presumptions, the attitude of the society and my own feelings about his art.

Robert Mapplethorpe was an artist with the vision that opened people’s minds to a new perspective. Richard Marshall in his essay “Mapplethorpe’s Vision” wrote that Mapplethorpe “was not a “photographer,” did not think of himself as a “photographer,” and did not aspire to become a “photographer.”” He created the art and his collages and photographic visuals serve as evidence that he wanted to achieve something meaningful and not just take photos of the naked people and penises. In Mapplethorpe’s work we can witness powerful and strong emotions and feelings. Arthur C. Danto in his essay “Playing with the Edge” wrote, ”The nude symbolized beauty and grace and quest for perfection. The nipple [referring to a documentary of Mapplethorpe having his nipple pierced] was an emblem of the erotic, of the body as the scene of pleasure, humiliation, and pain.”…