A short black & white documentary about the recently-deceased photographer Robert Mapplethorpe. His work became controversial in the United States through the attempts to ban its exhibition because of the explicit (homo)sexuality in it which led it to be deemed pornographic. (Damned in the USA byPaul Yule, which is also being screened in the Limits of Liberty programme, also looks at Mapplethorpe’s work.)Eye to Eye takes a look at the development in the work of Robert Mapplethorpe and sketches his life up to the last few turbulent months in the existence of this famous and infamous photographer. In the documentary Mapplethorpe’s long-time lover Jack Walls talks about his ideas and motivation in creating his work.The film-maker herself takes a back seat; she allows Walls and the work to speak for themselves without intervening.
