Mapplethorpe’s cooly photographed black and white studies of lithe men shocked, enraged, and stimulated different elements in the viewing audience. Twenty years after he photographed some of his initial homosexual friends, many viewers may fail to recognize how Mapplethorpe was pushing the boundaries of sexual behavior in his time. His photography shows his exploration of sexuality was perverse in the extreme. He enjoyed dehumanizing the human. He continuously experimented -- accepting anything in his social life, then captured many of his deviances on film.

Self Portrait | Homoerotic | Form | Classical | Comments? You can view comments or reviews of the Robert Mapplethorpe Retrospective when visiting the Gallery of Photography, Temple Bar, Dublin, Ireland from November 1996 through January 1997. Photograph copyright © Robert Mapplethorpe Foundation. Site assistance provided by Temple Bar Properties.