Early life

David LaChapelle was born in Hartford, Connecticut and lived there until he was nine years old. Then he moved to North Carolina with his family, where they lived until he was fourteen, before moving back to Fairfield, Connecticut. He has said to have loved the public schools in Connecticut and thrived in their art program as a child and teenager, although he struggled with bullying growing up. He also attended the North Carolina School of the Arts and School of Visual Arts in New York City. His first photograph was of his mother, Helga LaChapelle, on a family vacation in Puerto Rico.

He was bullied in his North Carolina school for being gay. When he was 15 years old, he ran away from home to become a busboy at Studio 54 in New York City. Eventually he returned to North Carolina to enroll in the North Carolina School of Arts.

Photographic career

Early Life fine-art photography

LaChapelle was affiliated in the 1980s with 303 Gallery which also exhibited artists such as Doug Aitken and Karen Kilimnik. After people from Interview Magazine saw his work exhibited, LaChapelle was offered to work for the magazine.

Commercial photography

When LaChapelle was 17 years old, he met Andy Warhol, who offered him his first job as a photographer at Interview magazine. Warhol reportedly told LaChapelle "Do whatever you want. Just make sure everybody looks good." His photographs of celebrities in Interview garnered positive attention, and before long he was shooting for a variety of top editorial publications. LaChapelle's friends during this period included Keith Haring and Jean-Michel Basquiat.

LaChapelle's images subsequently appeared on the covers and pages of magazines such as Details, GQ, i-D, The New York Times Magazine, Rolling Stone, The Face, Vanity Fair, Vogue Italia, and Vogue Paris.

His commercial photographs have been collected in a number of books. LaChapelle Land (1996) was selected as one of 101 "Seminal Photographic Books of the Twentieth Century" and is "highly valued by collectors". His second book, Hotel LaChapelle (1999), was described as a "garish, sexy, enchanting trip". Heaven to Hell (2006) featured "almost twice as many images as its predecessors", and "is an explosive compilation of new work by the visionary photographer. LaChapelle, Artists and Prostitutes (2006), a limited-edition, signed, numbered book 19.7 inches (50 cm) high and 13.6 inches (35 cm) wide, contains 688 pages of photographs taken between 1985 and 2005. Artists and Prostitutes was published by Taschen and includes a photograph of the publisher Benedikt Taschen in a sadomasochism scene.

LaChapelle's work has been called "meticulously created in a high-gloss, color-popping, hyper-realistic style", and his photos are known to, "crackle with subversive - or at least hilarious - ideas, rude energy and laughter. They are full of juicy life."

In 1995 David LaChapelle shot the famous 'kissing sailors' advertisement for Diesel. It was staged at the peace celebration of World War II and became one of the first public advertisements showing a gay or lesbian couple kissing. Much of its controversy was due it being published at height of the Don't ask, Don't tell debates in USA, which had led to the U.S. Government to bar openly gay, lesbian, or bisexual persons from military service. In a long article published by Frieze in 1996, the advertisement was credited for its "overarching tone of heavy-handed humor and sarcasm". In September 2011 when the Don't ask, Don't tell law was finally removed by President Barack Obama, Renzo Rosso, the founder and president of Diesel who originally had approved and pushed for the advertisement, said "16 years ago people wouldn't stop complaining about this ad. Now it's (open bi- and homosexuality in the U.S. Military) finally accepted legally."

Return to fine-art photography

Themes in his art photography, which he has developed in his Maui retreat, include salvation, redemption, paradise, and consumerism. It is clear that LaChapelle's moving in this, "new direction highlights his interest and understanding of both contemporary practice and art history". His fine art work frequently features models/muses: Amanda Lepore, Carmen Carrera and Katie Johnson. David has photographed a long list of stars that read like the bible. Stars including; Madonna, Leonardo DiCaprio, Whitney Houston, Pamela Anderson, Amanda Lapore, Enzo Junior, Naomi Campbel, Eminem, Drew Barrymore, Alicia Keys, Britney Spears, Lady Gaga, Courtney Love, to name but a few.

Artistic influences

LaChapelle cites a number of artists who have influenced his photography. In a 2009 interview, he mentioned the Baroque painters Andrea Pozzo and Caravaggio as two of his favorites. Critics have noted that LaChapelle's work has been influenced by Salvador Dalí, Jeff Koons, Michelangelo, Cindy Sherman, and Andy Warhol.

Other media

LaChapelle directed singer Elton John's show, The Red Piano at Las Vegas' Caesars Palace, which premiered in 2004. The show features extensive use of video technology on an LED screen backing the show that, when built, was promoted as the largest and brightest of all time. Several of John's songs during the performance are accompanied by short films by LaChapelle.

His interest in film led him to make the 2004 short documentary Krumped, an award-winner at the Sundance Film Festival. It concerned the Los Angeles dance style krumping. After Krumped he self-financed and developed RIZE (2005).

Exhibitions

In recent years he has exhibited his works at many one-man shows around the world, including the Barbican Museum in London (2002), Palazzo Reale in Milan (2007), the Musée de La Monnaie in Paris (2009), Antiguo Colegio de San Ildefonso in Mexico City (2009), Kestner Gesellschaft in Germany (2009) and the Tel Aviv Museum of Contemporary Art in Israel (2010), from which he received the honor of Artist of the Year in 2011. Also recently, major retrospectives of his work have been shown at the Museum of Contemporary Art Taipei (2010), Museum of Contemporary Art in Puerto Rico (2011), Hangaram Museum in Korea (2012), Rudolfinum Gallery in Prague (2011/2012), and the Fotografiska Museum in Stockholm (2012/2013). Recent acquisitions include Los Angeles County Museum of Art (2012), National Portrait Gallery in London (2012), and National Portrait Gallery in Washington DC (2012).

Personal life

His father was Philip LaChapelle and his mother is Helga LaChapelle; he has a sister Sonja and a brother Philip. LaChapelle credits his mother for influencing his art direction in the way she set up scenes for family photos in his youth.

Then in 2006, the already established LaChapelle abruptly quit the scene. He moved to a "...very isolated part of Hawaii in this forest. It's off the grid, bio-diesel cars, solar-powered, growing our own food, completely sustainable. I thought 'OK, I'm a farmer now.'" LaChapelle's change in path eventually brought him back to his roots. While in Hawaii, a longstanding colleague invited him to shoot for a gallery, which he hadn't done since his days as a fledgling photographer in New York. "I was really shocked", LaChapelle recalled. "I'm so known as a commercial artist, a big name as a fashion and celebrity photographer, I didn't think a gallery will take me seriously. It's like being reborn; it's like rebirth; it's like starting over. It's back to where I started, where I very first started in galleries when I was a kid. It's just come full circle."

Works and awards

Films

• Krumped (2004)
• Rize (2005)
• Unity (2015) - Narrator

Selected books

• LaChapelle Land (New York: Simon & Schuster, in association with Callaway, 1996) - ISBN 0684833026
• Hotel LaChapelle (Boston: Little, Brown, 1999) - ISBN 0821226363
• David LaChapelle, second edition (Milan: Photology, 2004) - ISBN 8888359141
• LaChapelle Land, deluxe edition (New York: Channel Photographics, in association with Callaway, 2005) - ISBN 0976670801
• LaChapelle, Artists and Prostitutes (Köln: Taschen, 2006) - ISBN 3822816175
• LaChapelle, Heaven to Hell (Köln: Taschen, 2006) - ISBN 3822825727
• David LaChapelle (Firenze: Giunti, 2007) - ISBN 9788809057029
• David LaChapelle: al Forte Belvedere (Firenze: Giunti, 2008) - ISBN 9788809062320
• David LaChapelle (Hamburg: Stern Gruner + Jahr AG & Co., 2008) - ISBN 9783570197721
• David LaChapelle: the Rape of Africa (Amsterdam: Reflex, 2009) - ISBN 9789071848070

Awards

1995

• "Best New Photographer of the Year" by both French Photo and American Photo magazines

1996

• "Photographer of the Year Award" at the VH-1 Fashion Awards

1997

• "Art Directors Club Award" for Best Book Design for LaChapelle Land

1998

• Best "Cutting Edge Essay" and "Style Photography" at Life magazine's Alfred Eisenstaedt Awards for Magazine Photography (the Eisies)

1999

• Honored in the "Cover of the Year" category at the Eisies

2000

• Won "Best Video" for Moby's "Natural Blues" at the MTV Europe Music Awards

2003

• 12th Annual MVPA Awards - Adult Contemporary Video of the year - Elton John "This Train Don't Stop There Anymore"

2004

• 13th Annual MVPA Awards - Winner "Director of the Year" - "Best Rock Video of the Year" for No Doubt "It's My Life"
• Special Juried Prize Mountainfilm in Telluride
• Special Juried Recognition in Sundance Film Festival
• Winner of "Best documentary" in Aspen Film Festival

2006

• Presented with GLAAD's Vito Russo Award for outstanding contributions toward eliminating homophobia

Exhibitions

2015

• "David LaChapelle, Fotografías 1984 - 2013" - Museo de Arte Contemporáneo, Santiago, Chile - July 29 - September 27
• "David LaChapelle, Fotografías 1984 - 2013" - Museo de Arte Contemporáneo, Lima, Peru - January 23 - April 12

2014

• "American Cool" - National Portrait Gallery, Washington, D.C. - February 7 - September 7
• "LAND SCAPE" - Paul Kasmin Gallery, New York, NY - January 17 - February 22

2013

• "Gas Stations" - Maruani & Noirhomme, Brussels, Belgium - December 12, 2013 - January 31, 2014
• "The Fashion World of Jean Paul Gaultier: From the Sidewalk to the Catwalk" - Brooklyn Museum, Brooklyn, NY - October 25, 2013 - February 23, 2014
• "Masculine/Masculine. The Nude Man in Art from 1800 to the Present Day" - Musée d'Orsay, Paris, France - September 24, 2013 - January 2, 2014
• "Still Life" - Galerie Daniel Templon, Paris, France - June 6 - July 26

2012

• "Burning Beauty" - Fotografiska Museet, Stockholm, Sweden - November 30, 2012 - March 3, 2013
• "Still Life" - Paul Kasmin Gallery, New York, NY - November 26, 2012 - January 19, 2013
• "David LaChapelle" - Busan Exhibition and Convention Center - Busan, South Korea - June 16 - September 16
• "Jesus is My Homeboy" - Galerie Jablonka, Cologne, Germany - May 14 - August 19
• "Earth Laughs in Flowers" - Robilant + Voena, Milan - February 16 - March 24

2011

• "Thus Spoke LaChapelle" - Galerie Rudolfinum, Prague - December 7, 2011 - February 26, 2012
• "David LaChapelle" - Hangaram Design Museum - Seoul Art Center, Seoul, South Korea - November 22, 2011 - February 26, 2012
• "NosOtros: La Humanidad Al Borde" - Museo de Arte Contemporaño de Puerto Rico, San Juan - October 23, 2011 - March 25, 2012

2010

• "David LaChapelle: Documents of Desire & Disasters" - Paul Kasmin Gallery, Istanbul - Demeber 9, 2010 - January 29, 2011
• "Post Modern Pop Photography" - Tel Aviv Museum of Art, Tel Aviv - July 23 - November 20

2009

• "Who Shot Rock & Roll" - Brooklyn Museum, Brooklyn, NY - October 20, 2009 - January 31, 2010
• "American Jesus" - Sebastian Guinness Gallery, Dublin - September 18 - October 31
• "The Rape of Africa" - Galerie Alex Daniels, Amsterdam - June 6 - July 31
• "Retrospective" - Musée de la Monnaie de Paris, Paris, France - February 6 - May 31
• "Delirium of Reason" - Antiguo Colegio de San Ildefonso, Mexico City - February 4 - June 28
• "Delirium of Reason / Delirios de Razón" - Museo de Las Artes, Guadalajara, Mexico - September 4 - November 15

2008

• "Jesus is My Homeboy" - Robilant + Voena, London - October 31 - November 7
• "Auguries of Innocence" - Tony Shafrazi Gallery, New York, NY - September 12 - October 24

"Vanity Fair Portraits" - National Portrait Gallery, London - February 14 - May 18

2007

• "Awakened" - Galería Leyendecker, Tenerife, Spain - November 9 - December 9
• "David LaChapelle" - Le Galerie Delphine Pastor, Monaco - May 11 - July 29

2006

• "Men, War, & Peace" - Helmut Newton Foundation, Berlin - December 2, 2006 - May 30, 2007
• "Heaven to Hell" - Galerie Jablonka, Berlin - November 30, 2006 - February 17, 2007

2005

• "David LaChapelle: Pictures for Italian Vogue" - Staley Wise Gallery, New York, NY - December 9, 2005 - January 28, 2006
• "David LaChapelle" - Maruani & Noirhomme, Knokke, Belgium - March 26 - May 15
• "Artists & Prostitutes" - Deitch Projects, New York, NY - March 12 - April 16

2004

• "Portraits of Musicians" - Palais Kinsky - Rudolf Budja Galerie, Vienna - November 4 - December 1

2003

• "David LaChapelle" - Moscow Photo Festival, Moscow - April 9 - May 12

2002

• "LaChapelle" - Kunsthaus Wien, Vienna, Austria - June 6 - September 22

2001

• "David LaChapelle" - Photology, Bologna, Italy - March 4 - July 28
• "Fish Stick" - Camerawork Gallery, Berlin - September 7 - November 23

2000

• "David LaChapelle" - Fahey Klein Gallery, Los Angeles, CA - May 25 - June 8
• "Femmes Plus Que Femmes" - Museu de Arte Brasileira, São Paulo - May 4 - June 4

1999

• "Hotel LaChapelle" - Palazzo delle Esposizioni, Rome - March 19 - May 24
• "The Beautiful & Bizarre" - School of Visual Arts, New York, NY - March 2 - June 2

1998

• "LaChapelle Land" - Les Recontres D'Arles, Arles, France - July 5 - August 16

1997

• "LaChapelle Land" - Parco Gallery, Tokyo - March 30 - April 15

1996

• "LaChapelle Land" - Staley Wise Gallery, New York, NY - November 8 - November 30

1995

• "Javier Cibachromes" - Trabia MacAfee, New York, NY - April 11 - May 12

1991

• "Facility of Movement" - Tomoko Ligouri Gallery, New York, NY - November 9 - December 21

1989

• "David LaChapelle" - Santa Fe Center for Photography, Santa Fe, NM - February 18 - May 18
• "Life Never Dies" - Mars, New York, NY - February 11 - May 11
• "Somewhere Better" - Trabia MacAfee, New York, NY - January 7 - January 28

1988

• "Grand Windows" - Grand Central Station, New York, NY - December 13
• "Your Needs Met" - 56 Bleecker Gallery, New York, NY - May 25 - June 25

1986

• "Taking Pictures is Fun" - Palladium, New York, NY - September 11 - December 11

1984

• "Angels, Saints, & Martyrs" - 303 Gallery, New York, NY - October 11 - November 8
• "Good News for the Modern Man" - 303 Gallery, New York, NY - March 29 - April 30

Videography

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1994

• Penny Ford - "I'll Be There"

1997

• The Dandy Warhols - "Not If You Were the Last Junkie on Earth"
• Space Monkeys - "Sugar Cane"

2000

• Kelis - "Good Stuff"
• Felix Brothers - "The Rockafeller Skank"
• Moby - "Natural Blues"
• Enrique Iglesias - "Sad Eyes"

2001

• Elton John - "This Train Don't Stop There Anymore"
• Mariah Carey feat. Da Brat and Ludacris - "Loverboy"

2002

• Elton John - "Original Sin"
• The Vines - "Outtathaway!"
• Christina Aguilera feat. Redman - "Dirrty"
• Avril Lavigne - "I'm with You"

2003

• Jennifer Lopez - "I'm Glad"
• Whitney Houston - "Try It on My Own"
• Christina Aguilera feat. Lil' Kim - "Can't Hold Us Down"
• Macy Gray - "She Ain't Right for You"
• Christina Aguilera - "The Voice Within"
• Blink-182 - "Feeling This"
• No Doubt - "It's My Life"

2004

• Britney Spears - "Everytime"
• Joss Stone - "Super Duper Love"
• Norah Jones - "Those Sweet Words"
• Elton John - "Answer in the Sky"
• Elton John - "All That I'm Allowed"
• Gwen Stefani feat. Eve - "Rich Girl"

2005

• Robbie Williams - Advertising Space

2006

• Elton John - "Someone Saved My Life Tonight"

2007

• Amy Winehouse - "Tears Dry on Their Own"
• Jennifer Lopez - "Do It Well"

2012

• Florence and the Machine - "Spectrum (Say My Name)"

2013

• Mariah Carey - "Almost Home"
• Daphne Guinness - "Evening in Space"

[ Source: Wikipedia ]