Lady: Lisa Lyon

by Robert Mapplethorpe, Bruce Chatwin

A study of Lisa Lyon, bodybuilder, in a series of black and white portraits that showcase the photographer's sensitivity to form, light and texture.

Genres: Photography, Art

128 pages, Hardcover

First published March 15, 1983

About the author

Robert Mapplethorpe was an American photographer, known for his large-scale, highly stylized black and white portraits, photos of flowers and naked men. The frank, homosexually erotic nature of some of the work of his middle period triggered a more general controversy about the public funding of artworks.

Reviews

[Andy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Lisa Lyons was the very first womens' champion bodybuilder in the early Eighties, so Robert Mapplethorpe photographed an entire portfolio of her portraying various personae: Circus Girl, Dominatrix, Black Widow, Biker, and many nudes, etc. The results are mixed: some pictures are well done and some look like amateur hour at flick*r, but Lyon is a good model. Check it out!

[Chris Schneider · Rating 4 out of 5]

A fairly unlikely combination of a woman body builder from LA and a famous photographer from NYC known for flowers and gay erotica, this book shows several sessions that Mapplethorpe did with Lyon, some on the beach, many in studio, others on location. He celebrates her mixture of masculinity and femininity, often in the same shots. Many are highly alluring, while some are fairly typical nudie pics. At his best (in my view the hazy nudes in studio with a blank white backdrop), they are simple and elegant, with a nod to some of his most famous work.

[Petergiaquinta · Rating 5 out of 5]

I was quite fascinated with Lisa Lyon back in 1983 and fond of Mapplethorpe's collection of photographs of her, as well. Fran gave me the book, and I still have it on the shelf today. I pulled it out and flipped through the pages after I heard of Lyon's death today. She was a rather remarkable figure, and it is sad that she is gone already.