David LaChapelle

DAVID LACHAPELLE is a surrealist. He is also not an ordinary photographer. In fact, he is involved heavily in so many creative projects it’s hard to keep up with the fireball. From his editorial, advertising and book portrait work the same concept of his is grasped; he simply likes to use colour and take photographs of celebrities, yet he does this is a way that is not humiliating and pathetic, he uses wit, boldness and the shock factor to make these images extremely beautiful, intense and humorous.

Many A-List celebrities who wanted to pose for LaChapelle include portraits of a rather satisfied Angelina Jolie, a sickly sweet Mariah Carey, a not surprisingly jaw-dropping David Beckham to a very refined Hilary Clinton and a chilled out Missy Eliot. His has an incredibly diverse portfolio of work and his clientele is very diverse; fashion brands such as Tommy Hilfiger, H&M and Diesel, music videos including No Doubt’s ‘It's my life and three with Elton John, TV Channel MTV, Siemens Mobile and magazines including Vogue, GQ, Rolling Stone and i-D Yet the wonderful thing about LaChapelle is that his work is easily recognizable, using the same sharp focus and striking colours throughout.

In the portrait work he creates, they have the aura of a shock factor and create a sense of a daring ability to show a contrasted side to the celebrity. His work for this has been celebrated many times and since his arrival into photography in 1984 he has had exhibitions of his work almost every year, with six in 1999. But what is surprising is the time it took for his work to be celebrated – it was 9 years before he won his first award which prompted his first book to be released a year afterwards.

So it seems LaChapelle wasted no time in wanting to spread his message through different types of media – and it paid off. The larger-than-life images he creates are poignant in his interest with hyper-glamorous situations and wild prop use. He is dependent on his location, instruments used to develop a beautifully surreal landscape. There is a sense of mild eroticism in most of the photographs; some are stronger than others. A sense of tacky trash culture is present in an array of his work, but it is used with a brilliant tongue-in-cheek mentality it flatters the picture rather than destroying it. LaChapelle certainly knows how to cause a photographic stir.