Robert Mapplethorpe Quotes

I am obsessed with beauty. I want everything to be perfect, and of course it isn’t. And that’s a tough place to be because you’re never satisfied.

The best picture I got was Bianca Jagger whispering in Mick's ear. I caught them telling a secret, which is sort of rude.

I became the toast of London. A lot of people I met came from these really decadent families where the married men were gay and no one thought anything about it.

I come from suburban America. It was a very safe environment and it was a good place to come from in that it was a good place to leave.

Happiness? No, it's not there for me.

Just because I was out at the bars all the time didn't mean I wasn't looking for someone to love.

I like to look at pictures, all kinds. And all those things you absorb come out subconsciously one way or another. You'll be taking photographs and suddenly know that you have resources from having looked at a lot of them before. There is no way you can avoid this. But this kind of subconscious influence is good, and it certainly can work for one. In fact, the more pictures you see, the better you are as a photographer.

I'm looking for the unexpected. I'm looking for things I've never seen before.

The more pictures you see, the better you are as a photographer.

I was a Catholic boy, I went to church every Sunday. A church has a certain magic and mystery for a child. It still shows in how I arrange things. It's always little altars.

I would never have done what I'd done if I'd considered my father as somebody I wanted to please.

I want to see something I've never seen before.

If I am at a party, I want to be at the party. Too many photographers use the camera to avoid participating in things. They become professional observers.

Sell the public flowers... things that they can hang on their walls without being uptight.

People have done pornographic pictures forever, but most of the people who involve themselves in explicit sexuality aren't really artists.

My theory about creativity is that the more money one has, the more creative one can be.

I don't believe in dogmas and theologies. I just believe in being a good person.

I am selfish, but that's an attribute that all artists possess.

I just want to be written about as a normal artist.

I should try to get some sleep as one doesn't know what tomorrow may bring.

I don't think that there's that much difference between a photograph of a fist up someone's ass and a photograph of carnations in a bowl.

I wish I could be elegant.

To make pictures big is to make them more powerful.

I don't know why my pictures come out looking so good. I just don't get it.

I've never lied. I think I've lived a moral life.

You're never going to get anywhere in life if you don't live up to your obligations.

My father wants me to be like my brother, but I can't be.

Whether it's an orgy or a cocktail party, I know how to do it.

My work is about seeing - seeing things like they haven't been seen before.

When I have sex with someone I forget who I am. For a minute I even forget I'm human. It's the same thing when I'm behind a camera. I forget I exist.

I don't like that particular word 'shocking.' I'm looking for the unexpected. I'm looking for things I've never seen before … I was in a position to take those pictures. I felt an obligation to do them.

I stand naked when I draw. God holds my hand and we sing together.

I think that it was a great advantage to go into photography not knowing much about it. Not thinking. I think one of the problems with many photographers today is that they never see for themselves, but just like everybody else.

Whenever you make love to someone, there should be three people involved - you, the other person, and the devil.

I see things like they've never been seen before. Art is an accurate statement of the time in which it is made.

Beauty and the devil are the same thing.

I just try to live my life and do my thing.

I'm not photographing anything naked these days. I haven't been concentrating on bodies recently.

I can't have just anybody assisting me, I need somebody who I can really communicate with.

I just hope I can live long enough to see the fame.

With photography, you zero in; you put a lot of energy into short moments, and then you go on to the next thing.

When I work, and in my art, I hold hands with God.

If I have to change my lifestyle, I don't want to live.

One must ease the public into it - that's an art in itself.

When I create art, it's like holding hands with God.

People don't have time to wait for somebody to paint their portraits anymore. The money is in photography.

When I’m behind a camera I forget I exist.

I always thought I was good. That's why it was so frustrating when other people didn't agree.