Of all the photographers inventing surreal images, it is Mr. LaChapelle who has the potential to be the genre's Magritte" Richard Avedon, The New York Times
Helmut is not very impressed by current photography. "There's a lot of pornographic pictures taken by the young today" he said. "There's a magazine, Purple." He frowned. “A lot of nudity is just gratuitous. But someone who makes me laugh is David LaChapelle. I think he’s very bright, very funny and good” Helmut Newton, The New York Times
David LaChapelle was born in Connecticut in 1969. He trained as a fine artist at North Carolina School of the Arts before moving to New York. Upon his arrival LaChapelle enrolled in both the Arts Student League and the School of Visual Arts. Andy Warhol offered him his first professional job shooting for Interview magazine. Recently ranked among the top ten Most Important People in Photography in the world by American Photo, he has continued to garner numerous awards.
David LaChapelle’s unfettered images, both bizarre and gorgeous, have appeared on and in between the covers of Italian Vogue, Vanity Fair, Rolling Stone, i-D, Vibe, Interview, The Face, British GQ, etc.. He is currently under contract with Vanity Fair. His uncompromising dedication to originality is legend in the worlds of fashion, film, and advertising. LaChapelle has done advertising campaigns for a variety of clients including L’Oreal, Iceberg, MTV, Ecko, Diesel Jeans, Sirius, Ford, Sky Vodka and the Got Milk campaign. David has photographed numerous album covers and packages for such artists as Macy Gray, Moby, No Doubt, Whitney Houston, Lil’ Kim, Elton John, and Madonna.
Worlds collide in David LaChapelle’s Hotel LaChapelle (Callaway, 1999), a fresh collection of unforgettable color images. LaChapelle continues to create photographs that confront our visual tastes and reimagine our contemporary landscape. Hotel LaChapelle follows the photographer’s best-selling debut book, LaChapelle Land (Callaway, 1996), in assembling an explosive mix of celebrities and models including Madonna, Leonardo DeCaprio, Pamela Anderson, Uma Thurman, Marilyn Manson, Alexander McQueen, Mark Wahlberg, Drew Barrymore, and Elton John in an extravagant boxed volume.
David LaChapelle’s photographs have been showcased in exhibitions at the Staley-Wise and Toni Shafrazi Galleries in New York, the Fahey-Klein Gallery in California as well as internationally at Art Trend in Austria, Camerawork in Germany, Sozzani and Palazzo delle Esposizioni in Itay, and most recently at the Barbican Museum in London.
In addition to his still photography LaChapelle directs music videos for select artists including Jennifer Lopez, Britney Spears, Avril Lavigne, No Doubt, Whitney Houston, Moby, Macy Gray, Blink 182, Elton John, Christina Aguilera, and The Vines. His haunting video for Moby’s “Natural Blues,” featuring Moby as an old man and Christina Ricci as an angel, had a huge presence in the music video industry in 2000. At the MTV Europe Music Awards, “Natural Blues” was named Best Video of the year, the result of a popular vote of over 7 million viewers. This was striking in that it was only LaChapelle’s third video. “Natural Blues” was also nominated in the U.S., in the MTV Video Awards’ “Best Male Artist” category, and for best “Visionary Video” at the VH-1/ Vogue Fashion Awards.
LaChapelle has also added stage director to his list of credits. David LaChapelle conceived and designed Elton John’s ‘The Red Piano’ show at Caesar’s Coliseum in Las Vegas.
AWARDS
2004: Winner of best documentary Aspen Film Festival
2004: Special Juried Recognition Sundance film Festival
2004: Special Juried Prize Mountainfilm in Telluride
2004: 13th Annual MVPA Awards - Winnner 'Director of the Year' - 'Best Rock Video of the Year' for No Doubt "It's My Life"
2003: 12th Annual MVPA (Music Video Production Association) Awards - Adult Contemporary Video of the year- Elton John 'This Train Don't Stop There Anymore'
2000: Won “Best Video” for Moby’s “Natural Blues” at the MTV Europe Music Awards
1999: Honored in the “Cover of the Year” category at the Eisies; placed second on CNN’s list of “20 to Watch in 2000”
1998: Won for Best “Cutting Edge Essay” and “Style Photography” at Life magazine’s Alfred Eisenstadt Awards for Magazine Photography (the Eisies)
1997: Art Directors Club Award for Best Book Design for LaChapelle Land
1996: “Photographer of the Year Award” at the VH-1 Fashion Awards; “Applied Photography of the Year Award” from The International Center of Photography
1995: Named “Best New Photographer of the Year” by both French Photo and American Photo magazines