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Exploring Mapplethorpe's use of Polaroids

By Emily Hulme | amNewYork staff writer

May 16, 2008

'Untitled Marianne Faithfull,' 1974; (May 16, 2008)

A placard in the lobby warns, "Some of the works in this exhibition may not be suitable for all audiences."

Photographer Robert Mapplethorpe made his name through his controversial homoerotic works, and while there is some of that on view at the Whitney's "Polaroids: Mapplethorpe," the show, which focuses on the artist's earlier work, is relatively tame. Relatively.

The exhibit, a gallery of small-scale but stunning Polaroid photos, focuses on the artist's work from 1970-75. Mapplethorpe first started playing around with photography in the early '70s, and this era marks a transitional period in the artist's career. Before that, he worked primarily in collage, and his experiments with

Polaroid film shown here directly shaped the confrontational photographic style he would later become known for.

As curator Sylvia Wolf puts it, these prints show "Mapplethorpe learning to see photographically." The exhibition presents the works in loose chronological order, enabling the viewer to trace the development of Mapplethorpe's eye.

The first grouping of photos is heavy on the still-lifes, sober snapshots of objects en scene with little evident manipulation. A solitary telephone, a statue's head or a looming utility pole fill each frame they inhabit.

They are just what you would expect from a talented artist just beginning to play around with photography. Mapplethorpe also started experimenting with portraiture. Both clothed and undressed, Mapplethorpe's models were his friends and lovers.

The immediacy of the Polaroid process combined with the personal relationship between photographer and photographee result in startlingly intimate portraits. Six images of (friend and one-time lover) Patti Smith hang side by side in the gallery, each shot showing her from the waist up. Though no more than half of her body is visible, her posture and facial expression tell a complete story in each photo.

As he gets more used to the camera, Mapplethorpe starts to think more about action on film and posing his models. On the far wall of the gallery is a series of photos depicting men in bondage scenes. They are not necessarily explicit, but they are highly sexually charged.

The next group of photos push Mapplethorpe's methods and style even further. Experimenting with both process and form, he tries out double exposures, reflective surfaces and more deliberate lighting and posing. In an interesting juxtaposition, a photo of gay sex symbol Peter Berlin -- outfitted in short denim cutoffs, boots and a leather cap -- is hung above a portrait of dancer Gyles Fontaine -- fully nude, in a Grecian god-like pose next to a fluted column.

Berlin evokes Village People levels of camp, while Fontaine brings to mind more classical imagery -- exemplifying Mapplethorpe's fascination with the high- low-art dichotomy.

Sadly, this era of Mapplethorpe's career was overshadowed by his later, more notorious work, and has never before been subject of a public exhibition. But these photos do more than give a glimpse into the photographer's artistic development. They stand on their own.