“If a day goes by without my doing something related to photography, it’s as though I’ve neglected something essential to my existence…” “I never liked photography. Not for the sake of photography. I like the object. I like the photographs when you hold them in your hand.” “To make pictures big is to make them more powerful.” Robert Mapplethorpe No written comments from those that attended the meeting and/or went to the Getty & LACMA...except from John. As a result just comments/reflections from me...the editor....on Robert Mapplethorpe. At the meeting we discussed or at least touched on some important contributions Mapplethorpe made to the art of photography and some notable societal mores he influenced. Mapplethorpe learned his art by perfecting visually the Creative Form of flowers...although he was trained as an artist and photographer Ultimately he made his visual way with the Idealization of the Male Form In publishing and showing his homoerotic works he spawned the Censorship debate in the galleries, museums and ultimately in the courts The end result was forwarding Artistic freedom of all artists and breaking barrier after barrier in museums and galleries His work was personal as well as Performance We discussed his Persona & relationship with Patti Smith who after his death from AIDS wrote several award winning books ..."Just Kids" and "M Train" both of which won National Book Awards We talked about his photographic tools and his transition from Polaroid the camera he learned his craft on….to Hasselblad ...gift from Sam Wagstaff Sam Wagstaff was his longtime companion and muse and also a compulsive collector of photography. Some of us made the trip first to the Getty then to LACMA to see the scope of his work that was enlightening from the standpoint that his homoerotic works were only a small part of his creative output. He was a genius and perfectionist in shooting and producing his work. It is said that Mapplethorpe started as a"photographist" and evolved as a "photographer"
Also at the Getty was photography collected by Wagstaff...or at least part of a vast collection he amassed in his life. All in all a great day seeing lots of great photography by a master and enjoying the company of f8.
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