Robert Mapplethorpe Photography Analysis

Robert Mapplethorpe Photography Analysis Mapplethorpe: Art or Pornography? art: the expression of creative skill through a visual medium such as painting or sculpture. pornography: printed or visual material intended to stimulate sexual excitement. (1) The question of art versus pornography is one that has long dogged the visual Arts of all mediums. Nudes on stage, actors fornicating on screen, and artists painting, drawing, sculpting, or photographing naked subjects or explicit acts, have all been scrutinised, discussed and argued over. Some have even been taken to court. Some depictions of naked forms do not even cause a stir. Nobody protests against the Romantic images of naked men or of the paintings and sculptures by Pre-Raphaelite artists of nude mythological beings. What is it then that determines whether something is classified as art or pornography? I would postulate that it is not quite as simple as categorising a piece as one or the other, and I will discuss this during the course of this essay. We must at this point turn to the Oxford English Dictionary’s definition of pornography and the key word â€Å"intended†. The deciding factor appears to lie in the intention of the artist; if he or she intends to â€Å"stimulate sexual excitement† the result will be pornographic. Mapplethorpe has admitted that his pieces are homages to desire, and that he himself was sexually stimulated whilst photographing his male nude subjects. It would be unfair to say however, that his photographs are not expressive of â€Å"creative skill†. His images, which I will examine in greater detail later in the essay, are formally beautiful and skillfully posed and shot. Can a piece of work be both art and pornography? Mapplethorpe himself insists that he makes pornography that is art (2). If an artist’s technique is masterful, why should the fact that the piece is sexually stimulating to others prevent it from being classed as art? Why can’t a piece of art hav e multiple functions? Some view Mapplethorpe’s photography purely as pornography, believing it impossible to classify photographs of naked men and women as art. When Mapplethorpe’s retrospective exposition The Perfect Moment exhibited at the Institute of Contemporary Art, Republican Sen. Jesse Helms was the most forceful objector. So outraged was the Senator that he would carry around photographs from the exhibition to illustrate his point to journalists. One photograph he would often present was â€Å"Rosie†, showing a young girl of two or three pictured with her crotch exposed, which he argued constituted child pornography. Others have agreed with Helms. In 1996 the image was removed from a London exhibition on the grounds that it might attract paedophiles. As many others have argued however, this view casts both Rosie and Mapplethorpe in an unfair light. As with many of his other photographs of naked individuals, what is most striking about â€Å"Rosie† is the humanity and i nnocence of this little girl; it is what is revealed about the figure that is most interesting. Nakedness is represented in the Bible as the state of innocence to which we must all return if we are to know God. In Genesis it is only when Adam and Eve fall from innocence and know evil that they realise they are naked. Saying 37 in the Gospel of Thomas alludes to the innocence of naked children: His disciples say to him: On what day wilt thou appear to us, and what day shall we see thee? Jesus says: When you strip yourselves without being ashamed, when you take off your clothes and lay them at your feet like little children and trample on them! Then [you will become] children of Him who is living, and you will have no more fear. (3) â€Å"Rosie† is only seen in a sexual context by those with the predisposition to see it in that way, whether they be paedophiles or hard-line moralists (4). Rosie herself, aged 23 at the time of the London exhibition, protested that the photograph was beautiful and innocent and not at all indecent (5). She had even hung a copy on the wall of the restaurant she managed. Mapplethorpe’s most explicit photographs are seen as obscene by many who are not moralists or particularly religious. His X Portfolio contains graphic pictures of homosexual sexual acts and bondage, such as ‘Helmut and Brooks’, which depicts one man’s arm inserted up to the elbow in another man’s anus. ‘Man in Polyester Suit’, another of the photographs often produced by Helms to show journalists, depicts a black man’s semi-erect penis protruding from his flies. It is an odd image, the picture having been cut from just above the man’s knees to his chest, directing the gaze to the penis. Is this pornography? Against the cheap suit, Celant asserts, the penis becomes an object of beauty, like an emergent flower, beginning to bloom with desire. It is erotic, certainly, but is it obscene? Many certainly view ‘Helmut and Brooks’ as obscene and, accordingly, not art. In 1987 Dennis Barry, Director of the Cincinnati Museum of Art, was put on trial for exhibiting The Perfect Moment. In court his Defense asserted that the aesthetics of Mapplethorpe’s work made his photographs art and not obscenity. In Janet Kardon’s essay, written as a guide and an introduction to the exhibition, form is emphasised as the focus rather than the content or context. Even when faced with explaining the photographs depicting homoerotic sexual acts Kardon extols the virtues of Mapplethorpe’s camera technique, almost ignoring the sexual content altogether: There is a drama in each photograph; edges are used as the perimeters of a proscenium,  with subjects strategically sited within those boundaries and caught at a moment of  absolute stasis. Most sitters are portrayed frontally, aligned with the camera lens, in  direct eye contact with the photographer and, in turn, the viewer. Nudes generally  assume classical poses†¦ although his models often are depicted in uncommon sexual  acts, the inhabitants of the photographs assume gestures governed by geometry, and they  are shown against minimal backgrounds (6) Returning to ‘Man in a Polyester Suit’, Kardon refers to the image as â€Å"outrageous† but only because the shot has been set up to appear as a clothes advertisement, making the juxtaposition of the penis â€Å"unsettling† (7). As Kidd writes, it is interesting that Kardon uses the term â€Å"outrageous† rather than ‘obscene’, and that it is not the act of photographing a penis that is â€Å"outrageous† but the actual penis itself, being rather large (8). The reason for this being, Kidd continues, that the term ‘obscenity’, has sociological and legal implications. In terms of the sociological implications, the obscene is a subversion of what is sacred, and is also separate from daily life – it is perceived as taboo, especially by religious organisations. Its legal implications are what led Dennis Barry to victory in his court case. Congress defines the ‘obscene’ as: 1. the average person, applying contemporary community standards, would find that such project, production, workshop, or program, when taken as a whole, appeals to the prurient interest; 2. such project, production, workshop, or program, depicts or describes sexual conduct in a patently offensive way; and 3. such project, production, workshop, or program, when taken as a whole, lacks serious literary, artistic, political, or scientific value. (9) The defense successfully argued that Mapplethorpe’s work had artistic value – it is formally beautiful and striking, and the composition is masterful. His photographs could certainly be argued to fall under the first two definitions but all three definitions must fit for something to be considered ‘obscene’, therefore legally Mapplethorpe’s photographs could not be labeled as such. Flageolle extolled the â€Å"exquisite tonal qualities of the platinum print and controlled studio lighting† of Mapplethorpe’s photography, which can be observed in both his ‘hard-core’ and less explicit work (10). Photographs such as ‘Ken and Robert’ and ‘Ken and Tyler’, where Mapplethorpe juxtapositions black and white models, are made even more striking by using black and white film and posing the subjects in a rigid, symmetrical stance. All of Mapplethorpe’s photography is extremely precise, which actually adds to the eroticism of the images. In pornography models tend to assume very overt poses, leaning into the camera and pushing their assets towards the lens, and by extension towards the viewers. Much of Mapplethorpe’s work however, is more restrained in that regard. Subjects may perform explicit sexual acts, urinating in other man’s mouth for example, but it often seems to be personal, intimate. In â₠¬ËœJim and Tom, Sausalito’ the two men are almost unaware of the camera, a feeling heightened by the placement of them in the shadows. Mapplethorpe’s figures can sometimes feel almost cold, and distant, looking past the camera at something we cannot see. However, as Samaras has contended, pieces of art cannot merely be considered for their formal qualities, as that â€Å"relegates art primarily to the role of timeless visual entertainment not historicised cultural elucidation† (11). Mapplethorpe’s photographs showed the public another world. The homosexual and SM communities were brought to the attention of thousands of people. Mapplethorpe wanted to capture new images. His intentions were not to shock; â€Å"I don’t like that particular word ‘shocking’. I’m looking for things I’ve never seen before† (12), he told ARTnews in 1988. In photographing those â€Å"things† he also showed a multitude of people things they had never seen before. â€Å"The point of making art is to educate people† Mapplethorpe once asserted (13). He wanted to force the public into awareness of gay issues. If Mapplethorpe’s primary intention is not to sexually stimulate viewers of his work, does that mean it cannot be pornography? Yet Mapplethorpe certainly wanted to capture the latent sexuality of every living thing in his photography. Even flowers become objects of desire and sexuality. His photographs of flowers are almost more erotic than his nudes. There is a raw sexuality in the way in which he photographs them; the calla lilly’s stamen takes on a phallic shape, the stems of two poppies writhe around each other. Unlike much of his other work, he often uses colour film to photograph his flowers, capturing their vibrant colours, bursting with sexuality. Mapplethorpe sees no need to photograph his flowers any differently than his nudes; â€Å"My approach to photographing a flower is not much different than photographing a cock. Basically it’s the same thing† (14). His black and white photographs of single, naked black men seem to be more a study of the perfect form than pornography. The visually striking image of ‘Thomas’ recalls ‘Vitruvian Man’, Da Vinci’s mathematically and architecturally calculated drawing of the perfect human physique. With his arms stretched out to the perimeters of the circular barrier he stands in, his muscles rippling, skin gleaming, Thomas presents a striking and beautiful image of man. An untitled photograph taken in 1981 shows, apart from his penis, the rippling quadriceps of an extremely fit man. It is his gleaming thighs, reflecting the light and producing shadows, which draw one’s attention in this photograph, rather than the penis, which is shrouded in darkness. Mapplethorpe’s earlier work juxtaposed pornographic acts and images with classic poses and studio lighting, resulting in the disruption of both the pornographic and the classical and creating an uneasy mix. His later photographs of beautiful, gleaming male bodies are almost totally preoccupied with aesthetic beauty, with Mapplethorpe controlling the rigid poses. There is certainly a pornographic dimension to Mapplethorpe’s work but it is not traditional pornography. In many of the photographs, the subjects’ faces cannot be seen. Penises hang alone, boobs are held almost begrudgingly, the subjects uninterested. Nor does the pornographic define Mapplethorpe’s work. It is also a study of aesthetic beauty, educational, and a presentation of exquisite formal technique. Mapplethorpe’s work could be described as pornographic art; a combination of explicit sexuality and a formal exquisiteness. Endnotes 1 Soanes, Catherine, ed. Oxford Compact English Dictionary. 2nd ed. Oxford University Press.  2000. 2 Cited in Levinson, Deborah A. ‘Robert Mapplethorpe’s Extraordinary Vision: A review of The   Perfect Moment’. Aug 6 1989. www.tech.mit.edu 3 Cited on www.gospelthomas.com 4 Tozer, John. ‘In the Eye of the Beholder’. Variant, issue 6. www.variant.org.uk 5 Cited in Gerry, Lyn. ‘Cut! At the Edinburgh Festival’. 1997. www.ainfos.ca 6 Kardon, J, Mapplethorpe, R. The Perfect Moment. Philadelphia Institute of Contemporary Art.  1988. ps. 9-10 7 Kardon, J, Mapplethorpe, R. The Perfect Moment. Philadelphia Institute of Contemporary Art.  1988. p. 11 8 Kidd, Dustin. ‘Mapplethorpe and the New Obscenity’. Afterimage. March-April 2003. 9 Public Law 101-151, November 5, 1990. Reprinted in Richard Bolton, ed., Culture Wars:   Documents from the Recent Controversies in the Arts. New York: New Press. 1992. p. 286. 10 Flageolle, Andree. ‘Mapplethorpe and Baudelaire’. History of Photography. Winter 1995. 11 Samaras, Connie. ‘Feminism, Photography, Censorship, and Sexually Transgressive Imagery:  The Work of Robert Mapplethorpe, Joel-Peter Witkin, Jacqueline Livingston, Sally Mann, and  Catherine Opie’. New York Law School Review. Vol. XXXVIII Nos 1-4. 1993. 12 Cited on www.mapplethorpe.org/biography 13 Cited by McDonald, Robert on www.queerculturalcentre.org 14 Cited by Celant, Germano. ‘Robert Mapplethorpe: Man in a Polyester Suit’ ArtForum.  September 1993. Bibliography Bolton, Richard, ed. Culture Wars: Documents from the Recent Controversies in the Arts. New  York: New Press. 1992. Kardon, J, Mapplethorpe, R. The Perfect Moment. Philadelphia Institute of Contemporary Art.  1988. Soanes, Catherine, ed. Oxford Compact English Dictionary. 2nd ed. Oxford University Press.  2000. Afterimage. March-April 2003 ArtForum. September 1993. History of Photography. Winter 1995. New York Law School Review. Vol. XXXVIII Nos 1-4. 1993 www.ainfos.ca www.gospelthomas.com www.mapplethorpe.org/biography www.queerculturalcentre.org www.tech.mit.edu www.variant.org.uk FREE Pocket Business English, ACT NOW!

Gatsby One of the Socially Elite :: essays papers

Gatsby One of the Socially Elite The novel The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald portrayed the views, beliefs, and actions of the socially elite of nineteen-twenties America. Fitzgerald was not biased for or against the rich; he simply chronicled the lives of his characters and how money and class separated people. The best example of this was life of the title character himself, Jay Gatsby. Inquiring minds want to know, â€Å"Who is Gatsby, and what makes him so great?† The novel begins with the introduction of the narrator, Nick Carraway. After fighting in World War I, Nick left his prominent family in the West to move to West Egg near New York City to learn the bond business. Despite the original plan to live with an associate, Nick ends up living alone next door to a mansion in which Jay Gatsby resides. In the first of several documented gatherings, Nick spent the afternoon with Daisy, his distant cousin, Tom, her husband, and Jordan Baker, a prominent golfer. That was the first time Nick heard about Gatsby and his extravagant parties. The afternoon also uncovered Daisy’s suspicion of Tom’s unfaithfulness. Her suspicion was confirmed to Nick in the next chapter when he accompanied Tom to New York. Half way through the train ride, they stopped at an auto garage to speak to George Wilson about a car Tom was supposed to sell him. When Wilson went to his office for a moment, his wife, Myrtle appeared. Tom told her that he wanted to see her and to take the next train to New York. When Wilson reappeared, Myrtle announced that she was going to visit her sister that afternoon. That evening Nick, Tom, and Myrtle rendezvoused with others in the apartment that Tom had purchased for them. It was during this time that Nick was informed of the fact that neither Tom nor Myrtle could stand their spouses. Every weekend, Nick’s neighbor, Gatsby, held extravagant parties at his house. One morning, Gatsby’s butler came to Nick’s house and invited him to the party that evening. It was there that Nick met up once again with Jordan and eventually was introduced to the infamous Gatsby. Later in the night Jordan and Gatsby disappeared for an hour after which Nick said goodbye to Jordan and Gatsby and went home. One morning in July, Gatsby went to Nick’s house and proclaimed that the two were going to the city for lunch. Gatsby One of the Socially Elite :: essays papers Gatsby One of the Socially Elite The novel The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald portrayed the views, beliefs, and actions of the socially elite of nineteen-twenties America. Fitzgerald was not biased for or against the rich; he simply chronicled the lives of his characters and how money and class separated people. The best example of this was life of the title character himself, Jay Gatsby. Inquiring minds want to know, â€Å"Who is Gatsby, and what makes him so great?† The novel begins with the introduction of the narrator, Nick Carraway. After fighting in World War I, Nick left his prominent family in the West to move to West Egg near New York City to learn the bond business. Despite the original plan to live with an associate, Nick ends up living alone next door to a mansion in which Jay Gatsby resides. In the first of several documented gatherings, Nick spent the afternoon with Daisy, his distant cousin, Tom, her husband, and Jordan Baker, a prominent golfer. That was the first time Nick heard about Gatsby and his extravagant parties. The afternoon also uncovered Daisy’s suspicion of Tom’s unfaithfulness. Her suspicion was confirmed to Nick in the next chapter when he accompanied Tom to New York. Half way through the train ride, they stopped at an auto garage to speak to George Wilson about a car Tom was supposed to sell him. When Wilson went to his office for a moment, his wife, Myrtle appeared. Tom told her that he wanted to see her and to take the next train to New York. When Wilson reappeared, Myrtle announced that she was going to visit her sister that afternoon. That evening Nick, Tom, and Myrtle rendezvoused with others in the apartment that Tom had purchased for them. It was during this time that Nick was informed of the fact that neither Tom nor Myrtle could stand their spouses. Every weekend, Nick’s neighbor, Gatsby, held extravagant parties at his house. One morning, Gatsby’s butler came to Nick’s house and invited him to the party that evening. It was there that Nick met up once again with Jordan and eventually was introduced to the infamous Gatsby. Later in the night Jordan and Gatsby disappeared for an hour after which Nick said goodbye to Jordan and Gatsby and went home. One morning in July, Gatsby went to Nick’s house and proclaimed that the two were going to the city for lunch.

When Is It Ok to Break Confidentiality?

When is it OK to Break Confidentiality? Confidentiality is central to trust between doctors, medical team and patients. Patients have a right to expect that information about them will be held in confidence. The birth of the Hippocratic Oath in the fourth century started the responsibility of physicians to preserve the privacy and confidentiality of their patients. One of the provisions of the Oath lays the ethical foundation for the physician’s duty of confidentiality even beyond the circumstances of medical care.The Florence Nightingale Pledge, which was composed in 1893, was a modification of the â€Å"Hippocratic Oath,† a statement of the ethics and principles of the nursing profession. Included in the pledge is to hold in confidence all personal matters. Today we have the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA), which was passed by Congress in 1996. One of the regulations requires protection and confidential handling of protected health informat ion.We also have the Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations (JCAHO) who takes an active role against potential violations in patient confidentiality (Oram M. , 2008). This paper will consider the ethical implication of a breach of confidentiality with ethical principles. An alternative will be to address the dilemma in a clinical setting. Lastly, the author will address how an ethics committee might approach the dilemma using ethical principles, theories, and a team effort to ethical decision-making.Respecting and protecting our patients medical, personal and private information is a great responsibility. At times it can be very challenging and there are times in healthcare where specific issues are encountered and personal and private information must be shared. It is the position of this author that preserving confidentiality is of the up most importance. Confidentiality is defined as preserving the privacy of the persons that you are caring for. This would include all information verbal or from the patients medical records to be used by the medical team to care for the patient (Oram M. 2008). It is important to retain trust in the nurse patient relationship and maintain confidentiality unless disclosure can be justified. The personal Nightingale Pledge taken upon graduation supports this author’s belief. The Nursing Code of Ethics also guides this author, which states the importance of nurses upholding their duty to maintain patient information in confidence regardless of who they are (American Nurses Association, 2013). This author also adheres to the HIPAA laws and JCAHO.Confidentiality is at the heart of the code of ethics for healthcare. Dealing with confidentiality can be very confusing at times, like in the example of the NBC ER episode 2000, called â€Å"Betraying Trust or Providing Good Care. † The healthcare professional at any given time may have to ask themselves to breach confidentiality or not to breach? Ano ther question that the healthcare professional may ask is do I provide good care or betray my patient and their trust? The good new is there are ethical codes to guide and help the health care professional.In the ER episode the nurse Hathaway was faced with an ethical dilemma of breaking confidentiality or keep her fidelity. Hathaway had promised to help a 14-year-old patient, Andrea, and swore confidentiality in order to gain the girl’s trust. Sadly, Andrea was diagnosed with Human papillomavirus (HPV), a sexually transmitted disease which led to cervical cancer. Andrea was also involved in risky sexual behavior with classmates. However, if Hathaway contacts the parents or speaks to the school officials this decision would come at a cost of betraying her patient—a breach of confidentiality.To keep the promise to Andrea was concerning because Andrea would need the consent from her parents for medical treatment for the cervical cancer because she was under age. Hathaway ’s concern is that Andrea gets the medical care she needs. There also was the concern for Andrea’s classmates who should be screened for HPV or other sexual transmitted disease. As already stated, it is vital that healthcare workers keep their patents confidentiality, although there are those times when the healthcare team will come to the conclusion that they need to breach their patients confidentiality.According to the American Medical Association (AMA, 2013) and the ethical principles of fidelity, veracity and autonomy nurses or physicians should let the patient know about the restrictions of confidentiality protection and after disclosure have them sign a release record form to authorize the disclosure of the information given (AMA, 2013)). There are circumstances when keeping your patients confidentiality might cause more harm then revealing the information (Edwards, 2008). Such is the case in the ER episode where it was explained to Andrea why her parents and au thorities had to know what was going on.There would be more harm done to patient and classmates if her secret was kept. Hathaway has the obligation to tell Andrea’s parents of her health condition and break confidentiality. Hathaway should first encourage Andrea to tell her parents herself and if she is unable or refuses then Hathaway needs to step in and tell the parents. The author believes that breaching confidentiality and telling Andrea’s parents was the right thing to do. It could be said that Hathaway did breach confidentiality when giving the information about Andrea and the â€Å"sex parties† to the school authorities.The information could have been shared with no names mentioned. There was no benefit to Andrea but harm because after she found out that the school knew she tried to commit suicide. When the medical team or individual is faced with an ethical dilemma there is an ethical committee that can be consulted. The committee is a group of people wh o will collaborate and are specially qualified and trained in laws and theories. The members will have diversified outlook about the dilemma based on ethical principles, beliefs and values. Utilizing the ethical committee will help guide the medical team to the right action.However, the ethical committee is not always authoritative but should be used as a guide. Hathaway should have notified the ethics committee before notifying the school. Most likely Hathaway would not know the legalities about which diseases are reportable. Had Hathaway checked and learned that HPV need not be reported, it would have saved Andrea a lot of pain and emotional trauma. It is the author’s belief that no names should have been mentioned when talking to the school. Confidentiality is at the heart of the code of ethics for healthcare.Dealing with confidentiality can be very confusing at times. Reviewing the episode of ER helps to examine the ethical dilemma with breach of confidentiality. It is im portant as a nurse to have knowledge about ethical principles and theories so as to know if you are breaching confidentiality or not. A nurse also must be aware of who she can go to talk to about ethical dilemmas. While this will be an ongoing challenge during a nurse’s career, it is important that she is aware of both the importance of confidentiality and to whom she can rely on in a ethically difficult situation.References American Medical Association. Confidentiality. Retrieved from http://www. ama-assn. org/ama/pub/physician-resources/legal-topics/patient-physicians-relationship-topics/patient-confidentiality. page Edwards, K. A. (2008). Confidentiality. Ethical in Medicine: University of Washington School of Medicine. Retrieved from http://depts. washington. edu/bioethx/topics/confiden. html Oram M. 2008. Maintaining Confidentiality Course 117. Retrieved from www. jcaho. org/confidentiallyHerb

Symptoms And Treatment Of Health - 2264 Words

The definition of health describes the way we feel physically, mentally and socially and being free from any illness or injury. Health is not an easy term to define as for some people it includes mental health and for others it just involves physical health and these two are very different. The term ‘Illness’ refers to the way in which disease is experienced. Characteristics of a person with good health include a working immune system, good complexion, high energy, good communication, positive mood and mental state. Poor health will be basically the opposite, with being unwell frequently, mental illness, weight issues, poor complexion or substance abuse. The definition of illness is when you have a condition or feeling that isn’t normal†¦show more content†¦1.2 Health and mental health is not just defined within the medical context, it can also be defined by the person and the persons family and social networks. This is one of the main reasons the terms are hard to define as the definitions may vary from culture to culture. The three main categories are physical appearance, emotional disposition and behaviour. Some people believe that there are no symptoms then there is no disease. Other cultures believe that physical, emotional and spiritual wellbeing are the three most important things for good health. Sociologists think that a society depends on health people and being able to control illness. A man named Talcott Parsons identified what he called the sick role. He meant to describe the behaviour towards the sick person and the behaviour of the sick person. Parsons identified four roles of the sick role: - Not held responsible for being sick - Not responsible for normal duties - Not supposed to like the role - Supposed to seek help to get out of the role In a society, people who are acting sick will get sympathy. If people do not act sick or ask for any help they will lose the sympathy they were getting. Some people believe that you can only determine whether you are ill or not by science. A good example is some people only class diseases as legitimate if they have a common scientific diagnosis such as cancer or heart disease. These people are likely to slow less sympathy if someone is