My work is about seeing - seeing things like they haven't been seen before.
Robert MapplethorpeRead
I went into photography because it seemed like the perfect vehicle for commenting on the madness of today's existence.
Interpretation
Photography serves as a tool to express and critique modern life's chaos.
In this quote, Robert Mapplethorpe expresses his belief that photography is an ideal medium to reflect on and analyze the chaotic nature of contemporary existence. He perceives photography not only as an art form but also as a means to comment on societal issues and the complexities of life in the modern world.
In practice
In a speech about the influence of art in contemporary society.
My work is about seeing - seeing things like they haven't been seen before.
I like to look at pictures, all kinds. And all those things you absorb come out subconsciously one way or another. You'll be taking photographs and suddenly know that you have resources from having looked at a lot of them before. There is no way you can avoid this. But this kind of subconscious influence is good, and it certainly can work for one. In fact, the more pictures you see, the better you are as a photographer.
With photography, you zero in; you put a lot of energy into short moments, and then you go on to the next thing.
Nothing in the world can be compared to the human face. It is a land one can never tire of exploring. There is no greater experience in a studio than to witness the expression of a sensitive face under the mysterious power of inspiration. To see it animated from inside, and turning into poetry.
In the midst of observing the world and coming to consciousness, I was becoming a writer, and what I wanted to put on the page were the stories of people who looked like me.
If you want to be an entertainer, then go be an entertainer and give people what they want. If you want to be an artist, then you have to be true to yourself, and you have to be prepared to confront expectations - and you have to be prepared to disappoint your fans, too.
My raps are a decision, rabble rousing, spiritual, like gospel music. I don't want to dance. We have so many things to deal with, we need to talk straight up and down.
Oh, let there be nothing on earth but laundry,_x000D_ Nothing but rosy hands in the rising steam_x000D_ And clear dances done in the sight of heaven.
You weren't going to the theatre to change the world, but you had a chance to affect the world, the thinking and the feelings of the world.
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