“You know, the history of California art doesn't start until about 1961, and that's when these photographs start. I mean, we have no history out here.” KnowsMeanArtPhotographCalifornia Book:Dennis Hopper: Interviews Source: Dennis Hopper: Interviews
“[After Easy Rider] I couldn't get another movie, so I lived in Mexico City for a couple of years. I lived in Paris for a couple of years. I didn't take any photographs, and then I went to Japan and saw a Nikon used. I bought it, and I just started, like an alcoholic. I shot 300 rolls of film. That was the beginning of me starting again.” YearsFilmUsedEasyCitiesSawsCoupleShotsPhotographStartingParisJapanMexicoAlcoholicsRidersMexico CityNikonEasy Rider Author:Dennis Hopper
“I think of [my photographs] as found paintings because I don't crop them, I don't manipulate them or anything. So they're like found objects to me.” ThinkingFoundObjectsPaintingPhotographManipulateCropsFound Objects Author:Dennis Hopper
“... I'm sort of a nervous person with the camera, so I will just shoot arbitrarily until I can focus and compose something, and then I make a shot. So generally, in [the] proof sheets, there are only three or four really concentrated efforts to take a photograph. It's not like a professional kind of person who sets it up so every photograph looks really cool.” LooksKindPersonsI CanThreeEffortFocusFourShotsCamerasPhotographProofNervousSheetsReally Cool Book:Dennis Hopper: Interviews Source: Dennis Hopper: Interviews
“I never really made any money and it certainly cost me more to take photographs than I got for them.” MadeCostPhotograph Author:Dennis Hopper
“I couldn't get a job acting all the time and there were down periods where I could take photographs or paint. I got into a lot of trouble when I was young, from making two films with James Dean, watching him work and then him dying and thinking I could turn down work. There was a big difference, he was a star and I wasn't. So I got in a lot of trouble and was essentially banned from Hollywood.” ThinkingTwoBigsJobsFilmYoungTurnsStarsDifferencesActingTroubleDyingPeriodsHollywoodPaintPhotographDeanBanned Author:Dennis Hopper
“I went back to photography in the 1990s. But from the 60s to the 90s I didn't really take any photographs at all, unfortunately. During that period I lived in France, I lived in England, I lived all over the place in different cities. I didn't take any photographs and because I felt I had really accomplished everything that I wanted to in photography during the period between 61 and 67.” DifferentWantedFeltCitiesPeriodsPhotographyEnglandPhotographFranceAccomplished Author:Dennis Hopper
“I was always involved in art and when I went under contract at Warner Bros. at 18, it afforded me the possibility of never having to stop painting, never having to stop taking photographs and so on, and to actually live a cultural life.” ArtPossibilityPaintingInvolvedPhotographContractsBrosWarner Bros Author:Dennis Hopper
