No place could be less sympathetic to my politics than America.

A lot of people seem to think that art or photography is about the way things look, or the surface of things. That's not what it's about for me. It's really about relationships and feelings...it's really hard for me to do commercial work because people kind of want me to do a Nan Goldin. They don't understand that it's not about a style or a look or a setup. It's about emotional obsession and empathy.

When I put my big retrospective together in '96 [for the Whitney Museum of American Art, New York], I saw that there were all these pictures of people inside looking out. All these pictures of women in water and mirrors. I don't know what it means.

I like Stella [McCartney] a lot - she's a very open and warm person. I don't particularly want to know about her background.

It's so rare to see a woman's sexuality, real female sexuality, either in the shows or in the clothes.

I had said that when the first Bush got elected that I would leave the country. And when the second Bush wasn't even elected properly.

The main thing that I want to say is that I don't think women are at their most beautiful in their adolescence or in their early 20s.