Robert Mapplethorpe, Self Portrait, 1988

On the Wall with Robert Mapplethorpe

“The lousiest, and the best bookstores have a pile of photographic erotica in some corner.
At times, when I ran into books by Robert Mapplethorpe, I picked them up, wondering about their prominence, and put them away again choosing to ignore his work.”

Zoltán Jōkay, Zeitmaschine point of view (see below)

This self-portrait struck me front and centre.  I didn’t know what to do; all of my previous experiences with Mapplethorpe had been brief and furtive.  As soon as I walked into the room his eyes locked with mine and I knew that there was no way I could get away from this terrifying embrace. In the past his beauties had reconciled themselves to twisting their naked musculature in sinuous forms, gracefully echoing the dynamism of eros and drama.

There is a naked death in this self portrait, like a knife of cold steel that remains sheathed. I cannot bear his eyes and feel untouched. 

http://zoltanjokay.de/zoltanblog/2009/01/robert-mapplethorpe-selbstportratrobert-mapplethorpe-self-portrait/

See also:

http://www.guggenheimlasvegas.org/past/exhibition_331_page_17.html