David LaChapelle
David LaChapelle
David LaChapelle is an American commercial photographer, fine-art photographer, music video director, film director, and artist...
NationalityAmerican
ProfessionPhotographer
Date of Birth11 March 1963
CityFairfield, CT
CountryUnited States of America
art school high-school
I went to art high school and thought I'd be a painter. Unfortunately I didn't finish high school, but that's always been part of my work.
artist done renaissance
Just as Renaissance artists provided narratives for the era they lived in, so do I. I'm always looking beyond the surface. I've done that ever since I first picked up a camera.
art thinking differences
I didn’t see any difference between being a photographer or being an artist. I didn’t make those boundaries. If someone wants to think it’s art, that’s great, but I’ll let history decide.
art culture musical wrong
They're everything that's wrong with music, ... Out of everything combined, they're everything wrong with culture, and everything wrong with art, and what we think of as art and musical culture - in one family!
real thinking drawing
With mania, is it dangerous to ride that euphoric feeling. You feel very animated and creative; I would fill journals with drawings. It feels good and you want it to last, but it can lead to being delusional. The delusions can be as real as you thinking you can fly.
thinking challenges lines
It's much harder to work for yourself, by yourself, than to create work for a gallery, because there are no limits and you can do anything you want. It's always easier when you have a parameter, when you have a limit. You can work within the limit and push it and walk the line, but when you're given absolutely no limits, it's harder. You must really think. It's more challenging.
strong believe photographer
I believe in a visual language that should be as strong as the written word.
photograph wanted
I never wanted to be famous. I always wanted to take famous photographs.
kids games play
What's shocking is cruelty and torture, and that's become our entertainment. Kids can play violent video games, but God forbid they look at a naked woman. That's pornography, that's perverse. No!
eye attention candy
My work is about making candy for the eyes. It's about grabbing your attention.
people photographer good-person
Success to me is being a good person, treating people well.
ideas want tools
The tools I learned photographing celebrities, now I want to use them to sell ideas.
wall tired school
People will get tired of overly retouched images soon and they'll want something different. If people have too much reality, they want fantasy. What matters most is what the image communicates. I remember the first roll of film I shot at high school, the contact sheet went from these really worthy images of cracks in the wall and ended up with all of my dancer friends naked in Renaissance poses.
fashion glamour mark
I love fashion, beauty, glamour. It's the mark of civilisation,