From: Thor Bols (thorbols@hotmail.com)
Date: 11/03/00-04:42:58 PM Z
Monica, if I appear to "degredate" someone's beliefs, then I'm sorry.
You've done an admirable job of defending Mapplethorpe for his
"door-opening", but I doubt that his success in irrating the homophobes or
in opening doors to fantasy of sexually confused individuals is enough to
include him in a last of The Top Five Photographers.
As to your assertion that Mapplethorpe somehow needed knowledge of the zone
sytem in order to produce his stobe-lit shots, well NOW who's the expert?
That is just plain silly!
>From: Monica Mitchell <kore54@hotmail.com>
>Reply-To: alt-photo-process-l@sask.usask.ca
>To: alt-photo-process-l@sask.usask.ca
>Subject: Re: photo history lecture
>Date: Fri, 03 Nov 2000 17:04:07 -0500 (EST)
>
>
>
>>C'mon, folks. To include Mapplethorpe in a list of the 5 photographers
>>that
>>affected the medium to the greatest degree? That's just silly, and an
>>insult to Gene Smith, Robert Frank, Diane Arbus, etc. THESE are the
>>artists
>>that ought to be spoken of, if one has to present a "capsule summary".
>
>
>And I believe that could be considered
>*your opinion*, which is fine,
>but don't degredate someone else's
>beliefs because you don't agree with them.
>
>
>>Monica, I am VERY familiar with Mapplethorpe's work. I bought a
>>photograph
>>of Patti Smith that he made back when she was still his roomate.
>
>So, I suppose that makes you the expert then.
>
>
>>He's talented with a camera and strobe, but no more so that hundreds of
>>other studio photographers. And the capture of "black skin" is more of an
>>accomplishment for Tom Baril, who did his printing.
>
>I think we all know that you
>can't do anything with a thin neg.
>
>It takes some amount of skill,
>and some knowledge of zone system,
>in order to get texture in both
>high and low lights.
>
>
>>As for his "controversial" subject matter, gay sexual practices where
>captured on film before and after Mapplethorpe. I've always felt that most
>of these works are his most awkward: the activities lack any looseness or
>passion, they appear stilted and posed. Mind-blowing, its not.
>
>
>And how many of those other "controversial"
>artists/images were as memorable?
>
>
>Monica
>
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