Catherine Opie

My dad was a very conservative Republican businessman, so obviously I considered it a problem when I realized I was a lesbian. ”

Nature is a dream state at this point, that we almost don't have a real relationship to it unless it's people living off the land and killing our own food and going for it. ”

One of the greatest things about being an artist is, as you get older, if you keep working hard in relationship to what you want the world to be and how you want it to become, there is a history of interesting growth that resonates with different moments in your life. ”

I'm very interested in the language of photography in relationship to painting. ”

I really love to drive. It's really hard for me to be a passenger, even though I get to look around a little bit more, but I've gotten really good at driving and looking. ”

I'm a complete supporter of Obama and kind of in love with him. ”

I'm very empathic to the construction of masculinity within our culture and how we build these identities up. ”

I go back and forth, but I never wanted to be the photographer of the gay and lesbian community. I will wave a rainbow flag proudly, but I am not a singular identity. I think a singular identity isn't very interesting, and I'm a little bit more multifaceted as a person than that. ”

I always give a print to everybody I photograph, and some of my subjects have told me they have a hard time hanging them up at home. ”

I like that time is marked by each sunrise and sunset whether or not you actually see it. ”