Inside the final years of Robert Mapplethorpe’s studio

Monochrome meditations — The iconic photographer’s old studio manager, Suzanne Donaldson, remembers his final years: ‘It wasn’t like he was gathering followers. He was trying to express himself.’

Back in 1986, at the very beginning of her career, Suzanne Donaldson was working in the art department at Vanity Fair. Just 24 years old, her dream was to be a photo editor, and she was thrilled to learn of an opening in the photo department under Elisabeth Biondi.

“My boss didn’t want me to go,” Donaldson recalls. “She very snarkily said, ‘With your interest in photography, I don’t know why you don’t go work for Mapplethorpe, Horst, or Avedon?’”

The forces of fate must have heard the crack, for not long thereafter Donaldson learned that Robert Mapplethorpe was looking for someone to manage his Manhattan studio.

“I was lucky enough to have an interview with him,” she says. “It was an epic time in New York. It was the beginning of the AIDS crisis. He was diagnosed at that point. Everybody was wary of toilet seats, shaking somebody’s hand, kissing them — it wasn’t known how it was contracted.”

Robert Mapplethorpe.
Untitled (Self Portrait), 1973. Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York

“It was the last six months of his life. He was 42 years old when he died, and it resonated with me. To go sit with Robert and hearing him talk about all the work he wanted to do, never once mentioning he was sick… I was with him for the last three years.”

As studio manager, Donaldson was involved in all aspects of his Mapplethorpe’s career, and is one of the few who had the rare privilege of working with him on both sides of the camera.

“Robert was an amazing human being,” she remembers. “It was very meditative to watch him shoot. He would deliberate over what was the composition. He knew what he wanted when we were on set. After watching him shoot for so long, to be the one who was in front of the camera was powerful – just to know what goes into the making of a photograph.”

Robert Mapplethorpe.
Ajitto, 1981.
Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York

“I had a friend come do my hair and makeup, which turned out to be a bit wild and crazy. We did one where I’m wearing this incredible black suede dress from A.P.C. that he had given me. We did another where I’m topless and I can’t remember how I got that way.”

Now, 30 years after his untimely death at the age of 42, Mapplethorpe is being celebrated in exhibitions around the world, including Implicit Tensions: Mapplethorpe Now and The Sensitive Lens.

“He was the recorder of those very private things that was going on and making them public,” Donaldson says. “Whereas now, when you think about porn and everything that is voyeuristic and explosive, Robert did it, in a funny way, on the DL. It wasn’t like he was gathering followers. He was trying to express himself through photography – that was his medium.”

Robert Mapplethorpe.
Lisa Lyon, 1982. Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York

Robert Mapplethorpe.
Louise Bourgeois, 1982. Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York

Robert Mapplethorpe.
Self Portrait, 1980. Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York

Robert Mapplethorpe
Marcus Leatherdale, 1978

Robert Mapplethorpe. Phillip Prioleau, 1982

Robert Mapplethorpe.
Patti Smith, 1976.
Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York

Implicit Tensions: Mapplethorpe Now is on view at the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum in New York. Part one: January 25 – July 10, 2019. Part two: July 24, 2019 – January 5, 2020.

The Sensitive Lens is on view at The Gallerie Nazionali di Arte Antica at Galleria Corsini in Rome through June 30, 2019.

Follow Miss Rosen on Twitter.

Enjoyed this article? Like Huck on Facebook or follow us on Twitter


Ad

Latest on Huck

Sport

Is the UK ready for a Kabaddi boom?

Kabaddi, Kabaddi, Kabaddi — Watched by over 280 million in India, the breathless contact sport has repeatedly tried to grip British viewers. Ahead of the Kabaddi World Cup being held in Wolverhampton this month, Kyle MacNeill speaks to the gamechangers laying the groundwork for a grassroots scene.

Written by: Kyle MacNeill

Culture

One photographer’s search for her long lost father

Decades apart — Moving to Southern California as a young child, Diana Markosian’s family was torn apart. Finding him years later, her new photobook explores grief, loss and connection.

Written by: Miss Rosen

Culture

As DOGE stutters, all that remains is cringe

Department of Gargantuan Egos — With tensions splintering the American right and contemporary rap’s biggest feud continuing to make headlines, newsletter columnist Emma Garland explains how fragile male egos stand at the core of it all.

Written by: Emma Garland

Culture

Photo essay special: Despite pre-Carnival anxiety, Mardi Gras 2025 was a joyous release for New Orleans

A city celebrates — Following a horrific New Year’s Day terror attack and forecasts for extreme weather, the Louisiana city’s marquee celebration was pre-marked with doubt. But the festival found a city in a jubilant mood, with TBow Bowden there to capture it.

Written by: Isaac Muk

Sport

From his skating past to sculpting present, Arran Gregory revels in the organic

Sensing Earth Space — Having risen to prominence as an affiliate of Wayward Gallery and Slam City Skates, the shredder turned artist creates unique, temporal pieces out of earthly materials. Dorrell Merritt caught up with him to find out more about his creative process.

Written by: Dorrell Merritt

Music

In Bristol, pub singers are keeping an age-old tradition alive

Ballads, backing tracks, beers — Bar closures, karaoke and jukeboxes have eroded a form of live music that was once an evening staple, but on the fringes of the southwest’s biggest city, a committed circuit remains.

Written by: Fred Dodgson

Signup to our newsletter

Sign up to stay informed from the cutting edge of sport, music and counterculture, with personal takes on the state of media and pop culture in your inbox every month from Emma Garland, former Digital Editor of Huck, exclusive interviews, recommendations and more.

Please wait...