A look at the life and contribution of Sam Wagstaff (1921-1987), curator, trend-setter, collector of photographs, and lover and guide to Robert Mapplethorpe (1946-1989), told chronologically with archival footage, photographs, and contemporary interviews. Wagstaff is upper class, handsome, and gay, reinventing himself after World War II as a curator, with extraordinary success. By the 1970s, he's friends with Mapplethorpe and Patti Smith, his mother has left him a fortune, an... (Full plot summary below)
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A look at the life and contribution of Sam Wagstaff (1921-1987), curator, trend-setter, collector of photographs, and lover and guide to Robert Mapplethorpe (1946-1989), told chronologically with archival footage, photographs, and contemporary interviews. Wagstaff is upper class, handsome, and gay, reinventing himself after World War II as a curator, with extraordinary success. By the 1970s, he's friends with Mapplethorpe and Patti Smith, his mother has left him a fortune, and he's collecting old photographs by the score. Many who comment discuss his largely forgotten contribution to art - the discovery of photography. The film sets the record straight.
Leave your thoughts about Black White + Gray: A Portrait of Sam Wagstaff and Robert Mapplethorpe.
| Slant MagazineRob HumanickDraws out the unseen riches that exist within what may otherwise appear typical or commonplace. |
| Times (UK)James ChristopherThis is a terrific documentary by James Crump about the unsung collector, Wagstaff, and his lopsided relationship with his hungry young lover, Mapplethorpe. |
| Film4Sam JordisonA well made portrait of an intriguing man, presented with a tragic but resounding weight. |
| Salon.comAndrew O'HehirBlack White & Gray raises provocative questions but can't answer them, or even frame them with total clarity. |
| NewsBlazeKam WilliamsRelatively tame retrospective about the relationship of a gay patron of the arts and his famous photographer lover best remembered for graphic, homoerotic snapshots featuring shocking sights like that of a bullwhip in a tight place. |
| Shadows on the WallRich ClineCrump's film is a vitally important document in this respect, bringing out Wagstaff's personality and vividly capturing the stories of the people who knew him. |
| The Tyee (British Columbia)Dorothy WoodendGood taste is examined in all its implications in James Crump's elegant documentary Black White + Gray: A Portrait of Sam Wagstaff and Robert Mapplethorpe. |
| Time OutDavid JenkinsCrump's film colourfully depicts Wagstaff's complex inner mindset and rarefied eye for imagery by allowing the stunning prints to linger on the screen. |
| New York TimesStephen HoldenA potent exercise in art-world mythography. |
| Film Journal InternationalDavid NohThis ham-handed interpolation of irrelevant footage is the chief demerit of his movie. |
Black White + Gray: A Portrait of Sam Wagstaff and Robert Mapplethorpe
