Robert Mapplethorpe
Robert Mapplethorpe
Robert Mapplethorpewas an American photographer, known for his sensitive yet blunt treatment of controversial subject-matter in the large-scale, highly stylized black and white medium of photography. His work featured an array of subjects, including celebrity portraits, male and female nudes, self-portraits and still-life images of flowers. His most controversial work is that of the underground BDSM scene in the late 1960s and early 1970s of New York. The homoeroticism of this work fuelled a national debate over the public funding...
NationalityAmerican
ProfessionPhotographer
Date of Birth4 November 1946
CountryUnited States of America
Robert Mapplethorpe quotes about
People have done pornographic pictures forever, but most of the people who involve themselves in explicit sexuality aren't really artists.
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...
I don't think any collector knows his true motivation.
I recorded that because it happened to me. I wasn't making a point
I should try to get some sleep as one doesn't know what tomorrow may bring
I've never lied. I think I've lived a moral life
Just because I was out at the bars all the time didn't mean I wasn't looking for someone to love
Happiness? No, it's not there for me.
One must ease the public into it - that's an art in itself
I can't have just anybody assisting me, I need somebody who I can really communicate with.
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 am selfish, but that's an attribute that all artists possess.
I stand naked when I draw. God holds my hand and we sing together.
I'm looking for the unexpected. I'm looking for things I've never seen before.