Quotes By Robert Mapplethorpe

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

I don't think any collector knows his true motivation.

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.

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.

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

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.

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

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

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

The photographs that are art have to be separated from the rest - then preserved.

My lifestyle is bizarre, but the only thing you need to know is where the darkroom is.

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

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

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

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

I played around with the flowers and the lighting, so that was a good way to educate myself.

Beauty and the devil are the same thing.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

I went into photography because it seemed like the perfect vehicle for commenting on the madness of today's existence.

This AIDS stuff is pretty scary. I hope I don't get it.

I recorded that because it happened to me. I wasn't making a point.

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

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

I wish I could be elegant.