Robert Mapplethorpe

Robert Mapplethorpe  was an American photographer known for his large-scale, highly stylized black and white portraits, photos of flowers and naked men. The frank, homosexual eroticism of some of the work of his middle period triggered a more general controversy about the public funding of artworks.

Although his work deals with sex (in particular, homosexuality), violence, and race, three extremely sensitive and often confrontational themes, its pristine quality enabled his photography to bridge the gap between provocative subject matter and artistic respectability.

Mapplethorpe's notoriety came from a series of sexually explicit photographs of Manhattan's gay community which he made during the 1970s. The implied violence and sadomasochism of some of these images have caused some to label them pornography. Others feel that because Mapplethorpe was a part of the community which he recorded, he helped New York gays to define themselves in a positive way. Even now, seven years after his death, wherever his work is exhibited it is accompanied with outcries of moral outrage. Mapplethorpe explored the extremities of the New York gay scene and documented it for all time. He recognised that it was a period that had a time limit on itself and for him also. The photographs from that period can no longer be taken because the scene has changed so dramatically with the advent of AIDS and also society's increasing tolerance towards homosexuals. He eroticised the leather scene too. His obsessive personality eroticised life and his passion made his subjects icons because of his Catholic background. The leather scene reflected his Catholic background of martyrs suffering violent deaths or enduring self-torture.

There are other photos I would like to include, but they are pure filth, so I haven't...

Diane Arbus

Another photographer people should know about, I find her choice of subjects particularly interesting - often people on the edge of society such as tramps/prostitutes etc (which was contrary to photographic convention at the time), things that 'don't quite fit'.  One of her more well known images of two female twins famously inspired Stanley Kubrik in 'The Shining' - the resemblance is obvious.  Also of note is the intrinsic dullness of the prints, which adds to the thought provoking content.

Jean - Luc Godard - Weekend

'A film lost in the cosmos/ A film found in the trash'

'Weekend' is a renowned black comedy filmed in 1967 by Jean-Luc Godard.  There's no point in me describing what happens in the film, but there are a couple of other things I would like to mention.  Primarily is his use of the long shot; by that I mean a shot that lasts for a few minutes, not one taken from a distance.  One of these lasts for what seems like forever, and is strangely fascinating whilst being intentionally dull, if you've seen it you'll know what I mean.  Another thing of note, more related to graphic design is the typography used in the film.  The film itself is split up by these intertitles (some text inserted into a film to provide context to the following scenes), and the typography is really beautiful in my eyes, I love the palate used, ironically in the colours of the French flag.  It also has some intelligent subtlety to it - in the 'chapter' named 'analyse' (which accounts the wife's sex with her psychoanalyst), the word is spaced to create a line break after 'anal'.  Another chapter heading is preceded by 'SS', which alludes to Nazi stormtroopers before it is joined by 'La lutte de la clasee', which can be translated as 'class struggle'. 

The trailer is of poor quality and with some oriental subtitles on it, and you can't really see the type, but you do see a bit of the 'long shot'.  Well worth watching.

Also as an afterthought, notice the way 'weekend' split up (images at top unfortunately). Like a cul-de-sac. Interesting if you watch the film.  A great example of good 'bad' type.

Pieter Hugo

Young South African photographer, tipped to be great. Have a look at his website, I particularly like his 'Hyene and other men' series - the interaction between man and beast is of note.

Erwin Blumenfeld

Erwin Blumenfeld is one of the most famous photographers of the 20th century, hailing from Berlin. My particular interest in him leads from his Dada and Surrealist influences. He definitely incorporates the visual language and techniques of these artistic movements. His interesting and experimental images often include processes such as collage, solarisation, multiple exposures and the combination of negative and positive printing. For instance in his work 'city lights', he uses simple props and stage effects to convey the almost fantastical aura of modern (in that day) day life.

Rineke Dijkstra

A dutch photographer (primarily) who I don't really know much about.  Saw a half hour long 'film' of hers at a gallery, and couldn't stop laughing (everyone else was silent - although this is 'art', there is a definite element of humour).  In it she gets her subjects to stand in front of a camera, puts on some music and lets them get on with 'it', with very differing results from each person.  An interesting investigation into the awkwardness of the human.  I can only find a couple of crap camera phone videos of it unfortunately and it doesn't do it justice at all (for instance it should be projected with 2 screen next to each other), but anyway...

This third video shows some of his other work, and a bit of the above mentioned video

Nido Bird Food

Lovely illustrations in a really amusing style. Funny concept too, describing your birds as 'sir' or 'madame', giving them a sense of respect.