Robert Mapplethorpe Quotes & Sayings

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

To make pictures big is to make them more powerful. — Robert Mapplethorpe

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. — Robert Mapplethorpe

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

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

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

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

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

I never liked photography. Not for the sake of photography. I like the object. I like the photographs when you hold them in your hand. — Robert Mapplethorpe

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

If a day goes by without my doing something related to photography, it's as though I've neglected something essential to my existence, as though I had forgotten to wake up. — Robert Mapplethorpe

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. — Robert Mapplethorpe

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

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

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

I want to see something I've never seen before. — Robert Mapplethorpe

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

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

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

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. — Robert Mapplethorpe

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

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. — Robert Mapplethorpe

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. — Robert Mapplethorpe

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

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

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

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. — Robert Mapplethorpe

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

I've never lied. I think I've lived a moral life. — Robert Mapplethorpe

I wish I could be elegant. — Robert Mapplethorpe

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

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 Mapplethorpe

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

I'm not a photojournalist. — Robert Mapplethorpe

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

I just try to live my life and do my thing. — Robert Mapplethorpe

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

If I had been born one or two hundred years ago, I might have been a sculptor, but photography is a very quick way to see, to make sculpture. — Robert Mapplethorpe

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

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

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

I don't use recreational drugs, except for cocaine, hallucinogens, and nitrates. — Robert Mapplethorpe

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

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

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. — Robert Mapplethorpe

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

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

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

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

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 ... — Robert Mapplethorpe

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

Beauty and the devil are the same thing. — Robert Mapplethorpe