great photographic portraits #7
The body-builder Lisa Lyon by Robert Mapplethorpe, 1982
Some photographers - and Robert Mapplethorpe is one of them - are obviously perfectionists. There is a danger in this when it comes to taking portraits because the subject can easily get lost behind the technical skill of the photographer. Mapplethorpe manages to avoid this, and his subjects live and breathe, albeit in the way one of his exquisite still-life orchids does. However you can see the negative effect of perfectionism in the work of countless 'professional' portrait photographers, with their expensive equipment and perfect lighting, yet hardly an original idea in their heads. This portrait of Lisa Lyon is beautifully costumed, posed and lit, but all the energy is channelled into the biceps, the tightly gripping hand and the clenched fist. It's this tremendous feeling of controlled tension that brings the otherwise impassive, statuesque and mysteriously veiled woman to life.
The body-builder Lisa Lyon by Robert Mapplethorpe, 1982
Some photographers - and Robert Mapplethorpe is one of them - are obviously perfectionists. There is a danger in this when it comes to taking portraits because the subject can easily get lost behind the technical skill of the photographer. Mapplethorpe manages to avoid this, and his subjects live and breathe, albeit in the way one of his exquisite still-life orchids does. However you can see the negative effect of perfectionism in the work of countless 'professional' portrait photographers, with their expensive equipment and perfect lighting, yet hardly an original idea in their heads. This portrait of Lisa Lyon is beautifully costumed, posed and lit, but all the energy is channelled into the biceps, the tightly gripping hand and the clenched fist. It's this tremendous feeling of controlled tension that brings the otherwise impassive, statuesque and mysteriously veiled woman to life.
posted by alan at 27.3.06
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