Mapplethorpe: Look at the Pictures
HBO Productions
Directed by Fenton Bailey and Rand Barbato
Documentary: 2016, 1hr 48min
Mapplethorpe: Look at the Pictures is the 2016 HBO documentary on photographer Robert Mapplethorpe, directed by Fenton Bailey and Rand Barbato, tracing his rise from underground New York artist to one of the most celebrated and censored photographers of the twentieth century. Running 1 hour 48 minutes, the film draws on interviews, archival footage, and the photographs themselves to examine both Mapplethorpe’s work and the controversy that followed it.
Jack Fritscher, who knew Mapplethorpe personally and has written extensively on his life and work, attended screenings of the documentary at three West Coast venues in March 2016: the J. Paul Getty Museum, LACMA, and San Francisco’s Castro Theatre. Those screenings — and Fritscher’s reflections on each — are covered in more detail on the individual pages linked below.