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.

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

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.

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