LONDON.- A rare and striking self-portrait by Robert Mapplethorpe (1946-89) comes for sale in London this month. Self-portrait, that was taken and printed in 1985, is expected to sell for £30,000 - £50,000 at Chiswick Auctions’ November 19 sale of Fine Photographs.

Mapplethorpe, who died at the age of 42, is known for his provocative works that challenged taboos. In 1985, when Self-portrait was taken, he had already experimented with countless other ways of appearing before a camera: in drag (1980), with a flick knife (1983), as a revolutionary with a machine gun (1983) and as a devil wearing horns (1985). His last self-portrait in 1988 showed him holding a momento mori cane as he contemplated his demise as complications from HIV entered the final stages.

Here, Mapplethorpe adopts a similarly raw attitude - recording and confronting the passage of time as a man aware of his own fate. The silver gelatin print is signed by the photographer in ink and additionally titled, dated, editioned 10/10.

Also in the auction is an image of American troops arriving on Omaha Beach on June 6, 1944, taken by the Hungarian-American war photographer and photojournalist Robert Capa (1913-1954). Taking part in the Allied invasion, Capa was attached to the 16th Infantry Regiment, 1st Infantry Division (Big Red One) and produced the group of D-Day images known as The Magnificent Eleven. This image – with a guide of £2,000 - £2,500 – is a period print used by the Associated Press.

The caption to the front reads: "Invasions Pictures: Some of the first troops to hit the French coast lay down under heavy artillery and machine-gun fire from the pillboxes. Some of the men fired from the water - hiding behind enemy beach obstacles. The rough seas made the landing difficult, the water often reaching the men's necks. Annotations to the reverse state that the photograph had been cleared for use by a censor.



Also in the auction is a collection of over 1,200 vintage picture postcards depicting Post Offices in the United States.

The majority of the cards, showing the facades of offices from more than 40 states of the union, were sent by postmasters to two recipients in Minneapolis and Kansas City in the early-to-mid-1950s.

The recipient of most of the cards was A.J. [Arnold] Chulik, Superintendent of Buildings, Room 416, Post Office Building, Minneapolis.

Many of the postcards, the appear to have been requested by Mr Chulik, have short notes, written by postmasters or employees at the office depicted. The comments range from perfunctory to comic. “Perhaps you will find this view of the Nome Post Office and Federal Building a little different” writes James M. McLean, a postmaster in Alaska. “There is snow in Nome about eight months of the year” he adds.

A smaller selection of cards are similarly addressed to a Mr Albert T Cartmell of Cartmell, Kansas City, Missouri with the collection accompanied by approximately 500 additional black and white snapshots of various Post Office exteriors, many from Minnesota and the surrounding states. The unusual archive has an estimate of £300 - £500.