Mapplethorpe Studio - Work Diary

When we went into the studio to do a Mapplethorpe inspired shoot I found that it was a lot more difficult than I originally thought it would be.  When I was shooting I sometimes forgot to pay attention to the lighting or the composition and so I had to re-shoot to ensure my photos were similar to Mapplethorpe's style.

This photo is of a classmate laying on the floor looking up at the ceiling against a black background despite its grey/blue appearance and although the subject is only in the lower half of the frame almost the lower third I don't feel that there is any wasted space.  This photo has quite a peaceful feel to it almost like the subject could be dead or resting.

This next photograph is of another of my classmates in front of the same background, I like the way that his forearm contrasts with the background and his jumper.  And having only half of him in the frame means that it qualifies as Mapplethorpe inspired.

If I was to do another Mapplethorpe inspired studio shoot I would like to experiment more with props as well as possibly a more specific subject/idea.  I also think looking for some more interesting portraits by Mapplethorpe to simulate and get more inspiration would be good.  Going back to the first photo a good idea could be to take photos of the subject in the same pose but in different locations and then possibly make a multiple imagery out of them.