20 iconic photographs by Robert Mapplethorpe

Once the famous critic Lyudmila Lunina wrote about Robert Mapplethorpe: "It would be wonderful to bring his exhibition here. Then we would understand more clearly who is worth what." The photographer, who died of AIDS at the age of 42, forced us to see the main thing in his works through scandalous themes – light and composition.

In memory of the legendary American photographer, we have selected several of his striking works.

Robert Mapplethorpe is one of the most famous and talented photographers of the second half of the twentieth century. In a sense, he was a follower of Edward Weston and Imogen Cunningham. It was from them that he adopted the erotic manner of shooting flowers and an interest in the image of male nudity, although his photos are much more explicit.

Mapplethorpe was born on November 4, 1946 in the suburbs of New York. He grew up in a family of zealous Catholics who provided their six children with a calm and joyful childhood. Apparently already at that time Robert was a rebel; in any case, he recalled the first years of his life without much enthusiasm:

So he did, moving to Brooklyn at the age of 16 and returning to his native Queens only for his own funeral 27 years later…

Mapplethorpe was mainly a studio photographer. He often photographed flowers—mostly orchids.

He also created a series of interesting photo portraits (Andy Warhol, Richard Gere, Arnold Schwarzenegger and many others).

.

At Christie's auction in 2006, the picture was sold for a record 643,200 US dollars, becoming one of the most expensive in the history of photography.

However, Robert Mapplethorpe became widely known thanks to his erotic photographs. They are visually similar to the images of sculptures, while some retain a powerful human energy.

Robert Mapplethorpe said this about his work:

The photographer arranged the light and composition in such a way as to emphasize the aloofness, coldness, almost lifelessness of the depicted. Even from a naked body, Robert Mapplethorpe managed to create a still life ("dead nature").

The last portrait of Robert Mapplethorpe's work, depicting the head of the US Department of Health, Everett Koop, was published in Time magazine less than two months before the artist's death on March 9, 1989.

The last portrait of Robert Mapplethorpe's work, depicting the head of the US Department of Health, Everett Koop, was published in Time magazine less than two months before the artist's death on March 9, 1989.