Mapplethorpe’s still-life photographs show beautiful images in a low key set up. Where he has used a low key set up, it makes you focus on the flower and its natural beauty because there is just a blank black background with a clear white flower on it. Where he photographed his flowers at the height of their bloom, it made them look very beautiful and maybe even perfect, this means he doesn’t show that the flowers will eventually decay which could indicate how he looked happy and healthy but eventually he will decay and just disappear like the flowers. In this photograph, the flower looks very isolated as there is only one of them. Mapplethorpe has taken this photograph in a studio and this is a good location because he has chosen to show you just the flower which makes you focus on it. The light is quite bright on the flower but the background is just dark. The balance between the two makes the image look very beautiful. Mapplethorpe has cropped the image so that there is no unnecessary background so you are not focused on anything but the flower. This work was created in 1987 and is called ‘Calla Lily’. When I look at this image it makes me feel like Mapplethorpe has caught the beauty of nature in his own way. From this photographer I can learn how to catch amazing images of just a simple object by using different lighting and set ups. I also feel like it will be better if I find a form of hidden meaning behind the photograph. This photographer has given me the idea of using natural plants and leaves but to show how they decay over time and that even though they look perfect they will still eventually decay.
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