He often said that he would work in marble if it weren't so time consuming. For Mapplethorpe, photography was an immediate means to producing a sculptural work. It is now considered common for artists to dabble across mediums and find one that best suits their message. Mapplethorpe will be remembered historically as a traditional black and white photographer, but he also worked in sculpture, combines, films, and was hired to photograph celebrities for magazines.This work was not made with the intent of having political or ideological framework, rather he simply photographed what he thought was beautiful and otherwise treated all subjects with the same treatment, whether they were penises or flowers. Specifically, his work from the early 1980s, which featured graphic depictions of homoerotic or S&M based imagery, and his fascination with black nude male bodies. Some of his work was considered too edgy, on the verge of being pornographic or racist.He was able to bring photography into major museums during the course of his career, most notably one of his final shows at the Whitney Museum of American Art in 1989, and many museums posthumously. During Mapplethorpe's lifetime, photography wasn't a respected means of art making as it is today. His utilitarian use of the medium resulted in a revolution for art photography. For him, photography was a means to an end in a search for original self-expression.He is considered a formalist for his sculptural use of photography and often listed Michelangelo as a primary influence. Mapplethorpe was interested in universal values like symmetry and beauty, and approached all of his subjects with the same discerning eye through sublime composition, use of color contrasts, and cinematic lighting.

Robert Mapplethorpe by Paul Martineau