Robert Mapplethorpe

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

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

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

“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.”

“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.”

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

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

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