My work is about seeing - seeing things like they haven't been seen before.
Interpretation
The quote highlights the importance of unique perspectives in creativity and artistry.
Robert Mapplethorpe emphasizes that his artistic endeavor focuses on presenting visual experiences in innovative ways. By advocating for a fresh viewpoint, he encourages both artists and viewers to challenge conventional perceptions and discover deeper meanings in what they see.
In practice
In a speech about artistic innovation, one might say, 'As Robert Mapplethorpe once said, my work is about 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.
I went into photography because it seemed like the perfect vehicle for commenting on the madness of today's existence.
Picasso had a saying - 'good artists copy, great artists steal' - and we have always been shameless about stealing great ideas.
Let the splendor of diamond, pearl and ruby vanish? Only let this one teardrop, this Taj Mahal, glisten spotlessly bright on the cheek of time, forever and ever.
The first time I started choreographing was in the dark, in my living room, with the lights completely out, to some popular music on the radio. I put the radio on full blast and I started moving. I didn't know what it looked like. I didn't want to see it... I had to start in the dark.
My main point about films is that I don't like the adaptation process, and I particularly don't like the modern way of comic book-film adaptations, where, essentially, the central characters are just franchises that can be worked endlessly to no apparent point.
When you go to an art museum, the thing you're least likely to encounter is a picture of a black person. When it comes to ideas about art and about beauty, the black figure is absent.
Every film is a political act; it's how you see the world.
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