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.
Meaning of the quote
When you're at a party, you should be fully present and engaged with the people around you, not just taking pictures. Some photographers use their cameras as a way to avoid being part of the event. Instead of enjoying the party, they just stand back and observe everything as if they're not really there. The best way to experience a party is to put down the camera and join in the fun.
About Robert Mapplethorpe
Robert Mapplethorpe was an American photographer known for his black-and-white photographs featuring a variety of subjects, including celebrity portraits, nudes, and BDSM imagery. His controversial 1989 exhibition sparked a debate in the US over the use of public funds for ‘obscene’ artwork and free speech.
More quotes from Robert Mapplethorpe
I’m looking for the unexpected. I’m looking for things I’ve never seen before.
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I’ve never lied. I think I’ve lived a moral life.
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This AIDS stuff is pretty scary. I hope I don’t get it.
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I don’t know why my pictures come out looking so good. I just don’t get it.
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Sell the public flowers… things that they can hang on their walls without being uptight.
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Beauty and the devil are the same thing.
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I see things like they’ve never been seen before. Art is an accurate statement of the time in which it is made.
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Just because I was out at the bars all the time didn’t mean I wasn’t looking for someone to love.
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I should try to get some sleep as one doesn’t know what tomorrow may bring.
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I played around with the flowers and the lighting, so that was a good way to educate myself.
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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.
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The more pictures you see, the better you are as a photographer.
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People don’t have time to wait for somebody to paint their portraits anymore. The money is in photography.
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I always thought I was good. That’s why it was so frustrating when other people didn’t agree.
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You’re never going to get anywhere in life if you don’t live up to your obligations.
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With photography, you zero in; you put a lot of energy into short moments, and then you go on to the next thing.
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I don’t think any collector knows his true motivation.
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I can’t have just anybody assisting me, I need somebody who I can really communicate with.
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I’m not a photojournalist.
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My theory about creativity is that the more money one has, the more creative one can be.
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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.
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I would never have done what I’d done if I’d considered my father as somebody I wanted to please.
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I am selfish, but that’s an attribute that all artists possess.
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To make pictures big is to make them more powerful.
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I wish I could be elegant.
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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.
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My father wants me to be like my brother, but I can’t be.
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Happiness? No, it’s not there for me.
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I recorded that because it happened to me. I wasn’t making a point.
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I don’t believe in dogmas and theologies. I just believe in being a good person.
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I just hope I can live long enough to see the fame.
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The photographs that are art have to be separated from the rest – then preserved.
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I just try to live my life and do my thing.
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I just want to be written about as a normal artist.
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I’m not photographing anything naked these days. I haven’t been concentrating on bodies recently.
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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.
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My lifestyle is bizarre, but the only thing you need to know is where the darkroom is.
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I went into photography because it seemed like the perfect vehicle for commenting on the madness of today’s existence.
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Whenever you make love to someone, there should be three people involved – you, the other person, and the devil.
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If I have to change my lifestyle, I don’t want to live.
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One must ease the public into it – that’s an art in itself.
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When I work, and in my art, I hold hands with God.
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