First regarded is controversial, Mapplethorpe’s photography has become the quintessential embodiment of intimacy without restrictions. It is love of all kinds in all its measures captured by an eccentric artist who once said, “beauty and the devil are the same thing.” Mapplethorpe’s work, like any good work, has survived the test of time and his collections of black and white portraits and still photography should be considered some of the pinnacle artistic works of the 20th century. He is an icon, not only for his savvy sense of style, or erratic and often unstable lifestyle, but for his sheer talent and for capturing the homosexuals of New York in all their natural essence – introducing another side of masculinity, that’s raw and gentle, in a time where the LGBT community was going through some of its worse, sometimes violent period.
