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.
Robert MapplethorpePeople have done pornographic pictures forever, but most of the people who involve themselves in explicit sexuality aren't really artists.
Robert MapplethorpeI 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.
Robert MapplethorpeJust because I was out at the bars all the time didn't mean I wasn't looking for someone to love.
Robert Mapplethorpe