What a self portrait?

22 Novembre 2014 , Rédigé par Léa Zinzindohoue

Hi everybody!

I know that I do not publish articles during long time, and I'm so sorry but now I'm back!

So, what a self portrait?

A self portrait is a portrait of oneself done by oneself.

With my english teacher, we have many speak about this and in my classrooom, each had to present a self portrait and mine was Robert Mapplethorpe.

Robert Mapplethorpe was born 4 november 1946, and died 9 march 1989.

It was an American photographer, known for his sometimes controversial large-scale, highly stylized black and white photography. His work featured an array of subjects, including celebrity portraits, male and female nudes, self-portraits and still-life images of flowers.

He has aids, and he had created a foundation for this: The Robert Mapplethorpe foundation.

He had did a self portrait before his death in 1988.

In this black and white self-portrait the photographer Robert Mapplethorpe’s head, which faces the camera directly, is positioned near the top right-hand corner of the image, while in the opposite corner his right hand grips a cane topped with a small human skull. Mapplethorpe wears black clothing that covers his torso, neck and arms, rendering them indistinguishable from the black background. This creates the illusion that his head is floating in empty space and serves to emphasise the stark paleness of his skin. The size of the hand in relation to the head indicates that it is closer to the camera, suggesting that Mapplethorpe was sitting down when this shot was taken, and that the cane and his right hand were positioned infront of him.

You can also see others self portrait as Norman Rockwell wich is very intersting!

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