Two of Hartford’s great alternative movie spaces are showing documentaries this week about legendary photographers.
The Wadsworth Atheneum Museum of Art, 600 Main St., is showing “Mapplethorpe: Look at the Pictures” on Thursday, Oct. 6, at 7 p.m.; and Saturday and Sunday, Oct. 8 and 9, at 2 p.m. The screenings are co-sponsored by the LGBT film society OutFilm CT.
Fenton Bailey and Randy Barbato’s 2016 film features commentary by dozens of relatives, close friends and colleagues of Robert Mapplethorpe. These include his printer Tom Baril, journalist Bob Colacello, Debbie Harry, Carolina Herrera and Fran Lebowitz, as well as Paul Martineau of the J. Paul Getty Museum, who is the curator of the Atheneum’s current photography exhibit “The Thrill of the Chase.” That exhibit is of photos from the collection of Mapplethorpe’s champion and lover, Sam Wagstaff, who was once a curator at the Atheneum. Archive footage of Mapplethorpe and Wagstaff is also in the film.
Admission is $9, $8 seniors and students, $7 members, free for Insider Access members and above. Before the Oct. 8 screening, at 12:30 p.m., Eileen Doyle will give a gallery talk about Wagstaff. The talk is free with film or museum admission. thewadsworth.org.
Cinestudio, at 300 Summit St. on the Trinity College campus, will show “Don’t Blink: Robert Frank,” a 2015 exploration of the work of the reclusive, controversial photographer. Laura Israel’s film will be shown Sunday to Wednesday, Oct. 9 to 12, at 7:30 p.m., with a matinee on Sunday at 4:30 p.m. Admission is $10, $8 for students and seniors. cinestudio.org.
