david lachapelle


david lachapelle was born in connecticut, north carolina in 1968.
he studied at the art student's league and north carolina school
of arts. at age of 19, mr. lachapelle went to new york
where he met andy warhol. he began his photography career created by warhol.
david lachapelle is a photographer who tends to create his own visionary world,
rather than reproduce what's visible in the world, a photography style that can be
compared to no one.
david lachapelle has evolved his photography into an idiosyncratic and highly personal
combination of reportage and surrealism.
lachapelle is one of photography's brightest stars, bringing high intensity,
larger than life images to the pages of magazines worldwide
(as i-D, arena, the new york time magazine, rolling stones, vogue, the face,
the london sunday times and vanity fair).
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initially distinguished by his campy fixation with white-trash culture,
lachapelle is also known for his groundbreaking use of computer
manipulation and futuristic fashion shoots and for placing hollywood celebrities
-- from madonna, uma thurman, elton john to drew barrymore to
the X-files' david duchovny --
in wildly imaginative and often compromising erotically charged settings.
la chapelle's monstrosities are that breed of gaunt, blemishless human built
and enslaved by heavy makeup, lighting and the glorifying voodoo of photographic
attention, e.g., models, transsexuals and ... leonardo di caprio.
it is a prophecy of even scurvier spiritual illness yet to come from our
media-centric society, in the not-so-distant future.
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in the last years he also created music videos: the station promo he
directed for MTV, which recast a scene from the tragi-camp classic
'whatever happened to baby jane with an aging courtney love and madonna;
the 'natural blues' video for moby...
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recipient of the 1997 international center of photography's infinity award
and the 1996 VH1 fashion award for photographer of the year,
la chapelle creates images that are cultural cues as well as advertising campaigns
for such prestigious accounts as estee lauder, prescriptives, volvo, levis, diesel jeans.

his first book 'lachapelle land,' was published
by callaway editions / simon & shuster in november 1996.
in 1999 followed his second book 'hotel lachapelle'.

From: www.designboom.com