. David LaChapelle (born March 11, 1963 in Fairfield, Connecticut) is a photographer and video/commercial/film director who works in the fields of fashion, advertising, and fine art photography, and is noted for his surreal, unique and often humorous style. He lists Adina Paley as one of his prime influences and claims that it was her work that first inspired him.

Early life

LaChapelle attended the North Carolina School of the Arts and the School of Visual Arts in New York City. His first photograph was of his mother, Helga LaChapelle, on a family vacation in Puerto Rico.

Andy Warhol offered him his first professional job as a photographer for Interview after meeting him at Studio 54 where LaChapelle was working as a scantily-clad busboy. He has also worked for Rolling Stone, Vogue, GQ and Vanity Fair throughout the years.

Career

LaChapelle has four published books of his photographs, including LaChapelle Land , Hotel LaChapelle, "Heaven to Hell", and "Artist's and Prostitutes". All four books contain vivid and surreal portraits of celebrities such as Marilyn Manson, Naomi Campbell, David Beckham, Drew Barrymore, Shirley Manson, Courtney Love, Lance Armstrong, Pamela Anderson, Britney Spears, Cameron Diaz and Uma Thurman.

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.

LaChapelle's documentary, "Rize" (2005) on the krumping style of dance in South Central Los Angeles, premiered at Sundance in 2005 and was released theatrically that summer.

LaChapelle holding a producer credit for The 1 Second Film in November 2004

He has directed advertisements for major brands such as Tommy Hilfiger, Lavazza, Nokia, L'Oréal, Diesel and Burger King. In 2006 he directed "Romeo and Juliet," a five-minute commercial for H&M's new denim brand and "Tis the Season to be Gorgeous," a humorous Christmas commercial for UK retailer Boots Group showing glamorous-looking women doing relatively mundane Christmas tasks. Also in the UK, he directed the surreal Lost trailers for Channel 4, show the cast dancing in 1920s costume among the burning wreckage on the beach; whilst the cast voice-over such phrases as "one of us is a murderer"; "one of us is a junkie" etc. In addition to this, he directed Channel 4's promotion of Desperate Housewives season one.

LaChapelle?s work has been described as surrealist, grotesque, shocking and ironic. His use of celebrities exaggerates aspects of their personalities and their personal lives. ^[1]

Motion Pictures

• 2003 Clowns In The Hood
• 2004 Krumped
• 2005 Rize

Books

Cover of David LaChapelle book, Hotel LaChapelle.

• LaChapelle Land (1996)
• Hotel LaChapelle (1999)
• Artists and Prostitutes (2006)
• Heaven to Hell (2006)

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 Eisenstadt 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

Footnotes

1. ↑

External links

• DavidLaChapelle.com Official website
• David LaChapelle catalogue in artnet's ''Artist Works Catalogues''
• Gallery of images
• David LaChapelle Claims Pop-Art Throne - CBS News Sunday Morning, March 4, 2007
• Series ?Jesus is my Homeboy?: The Protestant French Church in St. Moritz, Switzerland Video at VernissageTV.
• Italian Exhibit site, Milano.

de:David LaChapelle es:David LaChapelle fr:David LaChapelle it:David LaChapelle nl:David LaChapelle ja:?????????? no:David LaChapelle pl:David LaChapelle pt:David LaChapelle tr:David LaChapelle zh:??·????