FRENCH PHOTO - ISSUE 457 - MARCH 2009 : TEXTS IN ENGLISH - INCOMPLETED
N°457 SPECIAL DAVID LACHAPELLE
PAGE 18
HIS LIFE
My mom once showed me a pictorial from
Playboy of Ursula Andress naked under a
waterfall and said that is what a woman’s
body should look like. And i Have to say
my mom’s did. She ate health food and
worked out religiously in the family room
way before it was fashionable. Men would
hound her on the street or at the small. She
would laugh and think it was funny. Sexi-
ness with humor : those things are normal
for me.
I took my very first photograph in Puerto
Rico on vacation with my parents. My mo-
ther made a bikini out of a Frederick’s of
Hollywood bra top and gold belt buckles.
We were in this brand-new 1970s hotel.
She set up the shot. She put an astray on
the carpet to mark the spot where i should
stand. She posed ; I pushed the button. I
still love that photo. I think i was around six
or seven.
Family photos were a huge production. My
mom would direct the scenarios and meti-
culously style all the outfits. For my baby
photographs, she posed me as en angel.
She made paper angel wings – really detai-
led ones with indivudual paper feathers. As i
got older, the photo sessions got more am-
bitious. My mom would style outfits for the
entire family so we looked like something
out of The Sound of Music. And we would
go to old estates and country clubs around
Connecticut posing with other people’s cars
and sheep dogs. She has thousands of
photos in albums, all of this and take one
click of the camera and thay came out
great. I think of all the film i go through and i
feel a little amateurish by comparison.
Then we moved to North Carolina. I twas a
shock : subdivisions and fast-food places
went up overnight. There were wild divor-
cees with bubble bouffants and long lashes.
Nothing like Connecticut. One we were
playing kickball in the apartment complex
parking lot when this woman came downs-
tairs with a giant hairdo, halter top, hot
pants, cork platform wedgies, and started
smashing her husband’s new Lincoln with a
hammer. We were mesmerized. Seeing her
on all fours, screaming, crawling on that car
and bashing it, with that outfit, that hair,
those fingernails… well, i twas a little bit of
heaven. I’ll never forget it. I love drama and
outrageousness. I love crazy scenes. Al-
ways have.
In North Carolin ait was harder for my mom
to find all the beautiful places to shoot : it’s
all about strip smalls there. No more ye olde
New England backdrops ; she hated it. So
she got more creative. She shot pictures of
my brother and me that look like we are still
in Connecticut at some Mystic Seaport set-
ting with weathered planks, docks, and
pllars. Actually, we were at a Long John Sil-
ver’s, a fast food-fish restaurant, at the
shopping center in the middle of a parking
2
lot, but because of the cropping, no one
would ever know.
We were a middle-class suburban family li-
ving in a hideous North Carolina apartment
complex ; I was a pot-smoking teenage di-
saster. In the family albums we look like
Vanderbilts. My mom remade her reality
through snapshots. Maybe that’s were i got
the idea to make up fantasies in photo-
graphs.
There were moments of fun, but for the
most part i was tormented in school be-
cause i was freak. I would daydream all day
about being in New York. I was sure that i
would be a painter or an illustrator, but the
moment i picked up a camera and found
out that my friends would do anything to be
in a photo, i knew what i’d spend my life
doing. By the end of my first roll of film, all
my misfit firends were naked in my room,
posing like mad.
I left home in 1978, when i was 15, and
came to New York City. I lived at the 23rd
Street YMCA, and then with a friend in the
East Village. I tried to get a job at Fiorucci,
but i was too young. I started workingas a
busboy at studio 54. Halston, Gucci, Fio-
rucci… clams on the halfshell and roller-
skates… that time had a big influence on
my pictures. All that pop imagery. At studio,
a moon would come down from the ceiling,
with a spoon that went to its nose, and then
it would start snowing. A giant heart plug-
ged into a giant socket would swing fown
on special nights… and everyone seemed
beautiful, and people got dressed up, and

women wore makeup, and the music then
was happy, happy, happy.
I had fun but i decides to finish high school.
I somehow got accepted by North Carolina
School of the Arts. When i came back to
New York i was 18 and i wanted to just start
working. The first place i went was Interview
magazine because i’d met Andy Warhol at a
Psychedelic Furs concert at the Ritz. I was
in a ridiculous New Romantic outfit : pirate
pants, a sash on my head. He’d said, « Oh,
come by, show me your photographs. » I
went there with the photos of my naked
high school friends and he said they were
great. I was thrilled. (Later i learned that he
could look at a cookie and say, « it’s great.
») So Interview was the first magazine to
publish my work. I twas Marc Balet, the art
director who eventually hired me. I worked
for them consistently over the next seceral
years.
I learned a lot at Interview : it was like art
school for me. I would go to the offices al-
most every dat to eat the leftovers form the
extravagant buffet lunches. They were very
good to me. Being in that environment you
would always hear Andy’s philosophy about
the magazine. Everyone had to look beatiful
in Interview, and that really made an impres-
sion on me. No matter whom i photograph
– I may get them doing the wildest thing,
but i want them to look beautiful.
My first assignment was a disaster. It was a
Country-Western star. She was expecting a
glamorous New York photo shoot, but ended
up on the roof of my East Village hovel ins-
tead. We had to climb out the window to get
to the fire escape to get on the roof.
The reflector boards made her eyes tear –
which i throught was great, because the
title of her album was « When I Cry. »… The
hairdresser sculpted a huge, hideous palm
tree nightmare. I was too intimidates to ob-
ject. So i just cropped it out later. Her silver
Stephen Sprouse thigh-high boots sank
into the hot tar. She was stuck. We had to
pull her out. Then she had a real break-
down. The boots were ruined ; i thought i
was too.
I also worked at Pucci Manikins painting
mannequin faces with oil plant. Training
took three months. Every day we would get
blanck cast heads of the big models of the
day : Iman, Sarah Capp , Kelly Emberg. I
painted those models faces every day, all
day, ove rand over : eyebrows, eyeballs,
lips. Everyone who worked there painting
faces and doing mannequin hairdos was a
fashion casualty. They had all worked in the
business…One hairstylist left the business
because she cut a model’s earlobe off when
she was high during a shoot. She prefered
mannequins : they don’t complain or bleed.
I never expected to make money when i
started taking pictures, i remember really
well praying to make just enough to pay my
N°457 SPECIAL DAVID LACHAPELLE
bills. I don’t take anything for granted now,
either. Being in New York for 16 years, i’ve
seen people come and go, just burst on the
scene and disappear. But if i nerver got
hired again, i would still take photos. If
there’s en exhibitionnist left who wants his
or her picture taken, i’ll be there.
I never really had any kind of mentor. Get-
ting started for me in New York meant going
to nighclubs, galleries, and darkrooms. I
spent a lot of time on my own printing, loo-
king at pictures, reading Andy Warhol
books, and stuff like that. I’ve always loved
magazines and movie stars and pop art and
fashion. That’s what i come from.
For me, taking photographs, planning them
and working on them, is a big escape. Just
as what the pictures depict is an escape
from what’s really going on in the world. I’m
thankful to be able to do this really creative
thing – to think of some wild fantasy and
make it happen and get it published.
When i first started doing these photo-
graphs, i wanted to see color, and glamour
– i want my pictures to be a break from rea-
lity, because i know that living in this time is
really difficult. The are so many things going
on that are sad, so that when you’re flipping
trhough a magazine i’d like my pictures to
be a small intermission, a break of beauty. I
think that anyone can be beautiful in some
way. Or they can be funny. Funny is beauti-
ful. John Beluschi was beautiful because he
was so funny.
I’ve lived in the East Village on and off since
i was 15. I lived in an apartement with no
electricity or telephone fort too long. I en-
vied the squatters next door : at least they
didn’t pay rent for their hellholes. I certainly
don’t want to go there again, even in a
photo. I’ve had so many friends OD on he-
roin, die of AIDS, commit suicide, and have
myself dealt with so much stuff, that i don’t
want to see a bunch of depressed 18-years
olds sitting around in expensive clothes loo-
king like they’re about to drop. In the mid-
Eighties everyone started wearing black…
and they kept on wearing blakc. It’s like
we’ve been in mourning for ten years. And
in a way, we have seen.
I’ve been really fortunate with the maga-
zines i’ve been working for : Details, Vogue,
The Face, Vanity Fair. Details was the first
magazine that gave me the chance to take
the king of pictures i had always dreamed
og taking. Lately, tje magazines have allo-
wed me to go completely cray, to do wha-
tever i want to do.
A lot of people think it’s all done on the
computer, but it’s not. I’m a photographer,
not a computer person. In fact, it’s sort of
important to me that these scenarios existed
somewhere, for some period of time, even if
it was only for an hour. It’s more fun to pho-
tograph something real than to do it on a
computer. Tom Jones hanging off a truck in
3
a pink cat suit alongside a highway in Detroit
(p.63): he was really there, hanging off that
truck. That girl in balloons was really in
Times Square (p.33). She was freezing cold
and we didn’t have a permit and we blocked
traffic, but it was much more fun to shoot
than if it had been a composite, which a lot
of people thought it was. Lili Taylor really sat
on a giant mushroom and drank a milkds-
hake. That’s the great part: at the end of the
day, when everyone’s laughing and we can’t
believe that we got this picture. And we
can’t believe that this our job, this is what
we actually get paid to do.
I get maniacal about the details. The night
before the Lili Taylor shoot (p.99) I was loo-
king for a milkshake container. I actually had
a bag full of them, but I knew that I didn’t
have the right one. After all the stores clo-
sed, at 1 a.m., I started digging through
garbage cans on Avenue A in the pouring
rain. Then I saw somebody that I sort of
know, and as he walked by I was about to
say hi and explain what I was doing, but he
pretended not to see me and from the look
on his face I imagined him thinking, « Oh,
last week he’s a photographer doing really
well, and this week he’s digging through
garbage cans, looking for a tidbit to nibble
on, » which is totally possible in New York. I
ended up finding the perfect red-and-white
striped cup at the Gem Spa.
People say I should make movies because
my pictures remind them of film stills. I like
to think of them like that. Or as stories. So-
meone told me that my pictures are like
pressing the pause button on the VCR. It
bores me to photograph in a studio against
white paper. I like to invent scenes. I have a
hard time looking at new photos that are
copies of old ones. To me, it’s lazy to open
an Avedon book and copy what’s in it. Why
not come up with new ideas ?
When someone comes in to be photogra-
phed, I’m not so interested in capturing
their soul through their eyes. I’m more inte-
rested in what they’re wearing, how they
have their hair done. I think you can learn
more about a person from the way they’ve
pulled their outfit together than by looking
at a black-and-white photograph of their
eyeballs staring at the camera. There is a
tradition of celebrity portraiture that at-
tempts to uncover the « real person » be-
hind the trappings of their celebrity ; I’m
more interested in those trappings.
I think people look intelligent when they have
a sense of humor about themselves and
their images, so I try to bring that out. Tori
Spelling, for instance, sitting in a limousine
with garbage on the floor (p.68). I wanted to
play on the idea a lot of people had of her at
the time. And because she went along with
it, she wound up looking like she had a
sense of humor about herself. But I also
tried to make her look as sexy as possible.

The « American trash culture » pictures
came out of a time when I was guetting
really depressed, because I love nature and
it was getting hard to find. When I go on va-
cation, I want to go to the woods. But it got
to the point where anywhere I’d go, all I’d
ever see were fast-food jionts, strip malls,
industrial parks. So I just decided to start
finding things to like about them. And now
I’m not bothered by looking at places like
McDonald’s. I see them and think, « Oh, I
could do a photo here. » They’re colorful,
and bright. . . . Truman Capote said that «
good taste is the death of art. » Fashion
and advertising photography has always
been about good taste, about picturing the
good life. I want to see what’s been cut out,
I want to feature those things. It’s about
photographing what’s on the way to the
beautiful location, on the drive there.
Photographers are always running away to
exotic places to do fashion photographs in
nature, but they’re always artificial – staged
to look natural. You take a bus to the jungle,
and you get off at the tour spot and have a
snack and buy camera batteries and get on
the monorail and look through Plexiglas. I’d
rather celebrate the artificial. Why not just
go into the middle of what’s all around us
and try to find the beauty there. In fact, not
just find the beauty, but make it beautiful.
Enhance it. Change the way you look at it.
When you take a picture of something, you
change the way it’s seen. We get excited
now when we see Golden Arches and par-
king lots that stretch to the horizon. In Bra-
zil, the Far East, wherever you go you see
the same things. I don’t endorse them. I
don’t even eat at them. But they’re everyw-
here, they’ve replaced the forest.
When I was a kid, my parents said I was
going to be a bum. I worked at Burger
Kings, and Kentucky Fried Chickens ; and I
would get fired from all those places. Now I
take pictures of them.
I have to find something I like about a per-
son in order to photograph them. I heard a
hooker say once on a talk show, « Well, I
just focus on something I like about them,
even if it’s their shoes. I think to myself, ‘Oh,
they have really nice shoes.’ And then I can
have sex with them. » You know what I
mean ? Even if somebody’s not very nice,
I’ll try to find something about them that I
like, even if it’s only their nail polish.
I’m not trying to trick or make fun of any-
body. I respect the people I photograph.
When I first talked to Faye Dunaway, she
said, « I’m not familiar with your work. Tell
me what the ideas are. » I said I wanted her
in a ripped negligee holding her boob loo-
king at the camera in a trashed apartment
(p.91). She loved it. Then I told her, « The
first shot is going to be of you and the se-
cond is going to be about you. » The one
about her is on top of a limousine, like in
N°457 SPECIAL DAVID LACHAPELLE
The Day of the Locust, surrounded by rio- can sense that I’m sincere about trying to
ting fans (p.2). She’s the last Hollywood le- take a great photo. You can take a picture
gend, the last big star. Faye loved this shoot of a porno TV host that people will remem-
because she was not only able to look ber. That’s my goal : to get the pictures torn
beautiful but was able to put some emotion out of the magazine and up on the refrige-
and energy into the picture. She’s an ac- rator. I’ve always thought of the magazine
tress ; she was allowed to act. At one point as the gallery and the refrigerator as the
she said, « Do you want tears ? » so I offe- museum. If my picture makes it to so-
red to get the makeup artist and Faye said, meone’s fridge, I’m really happy.
« No, darling, I’m an actress. I have my own «LaChapelle Land», Callaway.
tears. » She threw back her head. . . she
was weeping.
Exhibitionists make the best models. So-
meone who will give anything for the ca-
mera, do anything that you ask. I love
HELGA AND
models who are hungry for fame or food or
whatever. Shoots can be hard. Those peo-
SONJA LACHAPELLE
DAVID’S MOM AND SISTER
ple in the Plexiglas box : they were there in
Mom and I really have very little to say other
a Plexiglas box, naked, piled on top of each
than David is very much loved as son and
other (p.104). They weren’t comfortable,
brother. His heart is large with love and ge-
but they look comfortable. And that’s what
nerosity. Even as a child he was very gene-
matters in the end. My pictures are about
rous with his love, towards his family,
getting people to go along with me on a
friends, little animals. Once he had a pet
ride, a trip. Getting a celebrity or a model to
snail whose shell was cracked and he put a
take off all their clothes, to wear a chicken
band aid on it to help heal the crack shell.
suit, be wild, to go against what their publi-
He's a brother and son first and an artist
cist recommends. There’s something great
second in our lives. We love him.
about it.
Written for Photo, february 2009.
I try to make pictures I’ve never seen be-
fore. I read somewhere that a photographer,
I think it was Hiro, said to an assistant, « If
you look through the camera and you’ve KUMI
seen it before, don’t take the picture. » The
French hate Disney World, so the first place
I wanted to shoot in France for Paris Vogue
GENA TANIMURA
I came from Japan hoping to experience an
was Euro Disney (p.98). Using what people Internship with David LaChapelle, he accep-
think is ugly and making it beautiful, to me ted me and kept me over 6 years, David is
that’s the kick. Inspiration can come from amazing- he works 24-7 non stop. With his
so many places, but my main source is my busy and packed schedule, he is available
friends, hanging out with them, talking and and ready to work no matter how tired he is
laughing, saying « What if we did - ? » Then after big shoots.
coming up with the wildest thing we can He is involved in any aspect of small or big
think of, maybe even the most hideous jobs and he knows every little details of eve-
thing we can think of, and reclaiming it, re- rything that goes on in the office to the stu-
deeming it as something beautiful. From dio. I always wonder where all the
then on it will be seen differently. And it isn’t information gets stored in his mind, and
about depicting violence and bloodshed also where his creative intuition and ideas
and murder. Those things aren’t extreme come out. I am still learning something new.
anymore. They’re banal as photographs, Its a big challenge and fun to be with La-
and too much like reality. I think it’s better to Chapelle. Big smile and happiness.
make beauty these days than to represent Written for Photo, february 2009.
the ugly.
When I was a kid, I spent a lot of time alone
(not by choice) ; I always wanted a group of
friends. I wanted it to be like Our Gang –
you know, putting on a show in the
backyard. Now I have that. I have a group
of people I work with. They’re really talen-
ted, and we’re friends. I work with them
again and again.
It’s not like work. It’s fun. When someone
comes in for the day to be photographed,
they feel it too. I put a ton of energy into the
concept for each shoot, so whether I’m
shooting Faye Dunaway, or an unknown
cable porn star like Kitty G. (pp.74-75), they
4

STARS
PAMELA ANDERSON
MUSE/FRIEND
“In the overheated world of show business,
the words “unique” and “genius” are thrown
around with such abandon that I usually
skirt them acidulously. Yet when I try to ex-
plain or describe my dear friend Dave La-
Chapelle, such expressions are wholly
unavoidable. He is a man of such extraordi-
nary creative energy, such powerful vision
and such artistic determination in the pur-
suit of beauty, humour, irony, relevance and
just plain fun that I know of no equal. His
work is always entertaining and inspiring
and often provokes a real epiphany – et je
lui aime! Nous sommes bien sûr des meil-
leurs copains mais de temps en temps
c’est vrais que nous faisons des sottises
ensemble!
Written for Photo, february 2009.
N°457 SPECIAL DAVID LACHAPELLE
CHAD FARMER
EXECUTIVE CREATIVE DIRECTOR
AND PRESIDENT, LAMBESIS
The first time David and I worked together
was in his studio in the village in NY about a
decade ago. We were having coffee with
Amanda Lapore and Richie Rich, while dis-
cussing iconic 70's french magazine co-
vers, we hung out in a room of boob
covered walls ...as well as many other
rooms. ...and then the cops came running
through the studio chasing somebody...
needless to say, we hit it off instantly and
have worked together on many projects
ever since.
Written for Photo, february 2009.
JOHN SCHOENFELD
David is a very aware person constantly ab-
sorbing the details of life, digesting his expe-
riences and pouring that unique perspective
through his own creative lens. For me, its
great to have the opportunity to participate
and contribute to David’s creative process. I
hope he has as much fun as I do.
There is a tremendous amount of thought
that David puts into his work prior to the
shoot, but to me what is impressive is how
he operates once he begins shooting. This
is when he refines the idea, giving the work
its dynamic layers. He is inspired and direct.
Written for Photo, february 2009.
5
JAMI GLASSMAN
DIRECTOR OF CREATIVE SER-
VICES, LAMBESIS
David is one of the most inspiring, visionary
artists of our time. He loves beauty in a way
so different from the conventional stan-
dards; his work really makes you stop to
think about the meaning of what you see
and how you see it. And of course his stu-
dio is just like his photos – crazy loud music
blasting, murals on the walls, and people
you love to hang out with.
GARRET SUHRIE
MANAGER, DAVID LACHAPELLE
STUDIO (L.A.)
Throughout his exhaustive career, David La-
Chapelle has created more than just a
name for himself, he's created a brand, a
culture. While the world may think they
know the LaChapelle style and aesthetic,
he's constantly reinventing himself, as any
true artist is, always evolving. He has pus-
hed the limits of commentary using fashion
and celebrity as his platform, and is now
getting back to his roots, back to the galle-
ries and museum. With his unbridled en-
thusiasm and uninhibited creativity, there
are exciting times to come in LaChapelle
Land!
Written for Photo, february 2009.
 N°457 SPECIAL DAVID LACHAPELLE

JEFFREY KEYTON
MTV NETWORKS
Few artist have inspired me the way David
has. His unbridled creativity is contagious,
his passion deep and wise. And I will never
forget when he picked me up once when I
was creatively down with the gift of his
creative light, heart and soul.
Written for Photo, february 2009.

6
 N°457 SPECIAL DAVID LACHAPELLE

STEVEN PRANICA PATRICK TOOLAN

JESUS INTERNATIONAL
AGENT/MANAGER
Provocative, Controversial, Prolific, Seduc-
tive... these are a few of the words that de-
MANAGER, DAVID LACHAPELLE
CREATIVE PLANNING
"The is a certain magic that surrounds a
David LaChapelle photo shoot. As one can
fine LaChapelle's artistic style and also my see from the final products, the fantastic
14 year friendship and business relationship scenes are alive during these shoots. David
with David as his international agent. creates his fantasies and then he photo-
As one of contemporary art's foremost in- graphs them. One
novators, LaChapelle has continuously exhi- can really feel the beauty that is being made
bited the rare ability to analyze, translate, because everything the public sees in the
and record all facets of pop culture. In en- print is truly happening right before your
compassing a protean range of mediums; eyes."
his visuals embrace the fantasy of indul-
gence and escape while satisfying the vie-
wer's insatiable appetite for aesthetically
significant work with intricately woven and
ironic, yet incisive commentary reflecting the
undertone of present day events.
His relentless mappings of the cultural
landscape at the heart of our society has
generated a compelling anatomy of the pop
culture psyche, allowing us to view our
most pervasive cultural narratives with new
clarity.
Whether he is exploring magnetic icons of
mainstream media or probing the subcultu-
ral margins, LaChapelle's contribution to
the continuing dialogue of art has transcen-
ded and redefined the existing creative pro-
cess for a new generation of artists; in turn
elevating his legacy into a pop icon.

7

ART
TONI SHAFRAZI
TONI SHAFRAZI GALLERY, NEW
YORK
One late night many years ago, I think it
was ’93, I got a very excited phone call
from Naomi Campbell, impatiently urging
me to rush down to the studio of David La-
Chapelle, telling me that he was a great ar-
tist whose work I would absolutely love, and
that I had to get down there immediately.
So at Naomi’s urging I put on some clothes
and went to the studio, where I found them
in the middle of a big photo shoot—and
walked right into the fantastic world of
David LaChapelle.
Even then at first sight, that world of almost
“guerrilla” and somewhat subversive “inde-
pendent” picture making felt familiar and
close to me, as I had some small expe-
rience myself in making pictures back in
1974. As it turned out some years before, in
the mid-80’s when David was a young boy,
he had often come to my gallery and loved
the exhibitions, especially the art and sprit
of Keith Haring, as well as Andy Warhol,
whom he started to work with. Soon after
my visit we began work together.
What is most striking and clearly visible in
David’s work is the tremendous level of ex-
N°457 SPECIAL DAVID LACHAPELLE
citement of every picture. It’s as if the mo- that we hear about when we die, walking
dels, whether movie stars or common peo-
ple, characters and their environments are
infused with hyper-excitement. It is also very
apparent that he is a brilliant colorist—
which he uses freely to amplify his images.
towards the light. This submersion in the
water in order to express this light, it’s like
the submersion becomes a baptism, it be-
comes an anointing.”
Having for many years covered the whole
The model, the set, juxtaposition, the ac-
tion, the humor and color are all pumped
up, like in the best of pop music when eve-
world of pop culture, the world of design,
fashion and consumerism, the obsession
with beauty—fame—vanity and tempta-
rything is well orchestrated, all these ele- tion—catastrophe and death, what his pic-
ments working together are brought to a tures convey is a tremendous sense of
very high level, elevating the idea to a very innocence. There’s always a kind of opti-
high pitch until “the picture”—like great rock mism, a complete lack of nihilism—there’s
and roll—sounds and looks out of this no major sense of cynicism or bitterness.
world. Instead his pictures represent an abundant
feeling of enthusiasm. What always comes
In his more recent work, like the Deluge and across is a most devoted love and passion
Awakened series, people are presented in for creativity and imaginative playfulness.
some ghostly ephemeral place, in a mo- New York, February 12th, 2009
ment of being awakened when one has a
kind of epiphany—kind of half way between
heaven and hell. Apparently when Quentin
Tarantino had to have his portrait done, he
specifically asked David that he be submer-
IN BED WITH
ged like in the Awakened series. It is ama-
zing that such a great director with
LACHAPELLE
tremendous energy and creativity would re-
quest this particular image and experience,
as if to be anointed, like a ritual that he
wanted to be a part of. David has said in his
interviews that, “the tank of water was very
much like a big baptismal. The experience
was like being photographed like babies
under water. The water was warmed and
there was this idea of rebirth, of the tunnel
8

MODE
VICTORIA FRAZIER
HBO NETWORKS
I love David LaChapelle! Entering the studio
I just can’t wait to see David. I can’t wait to
see what he will be wearing, what he will
say, watch him dance, laugh and work. I
feel like a child in his presence and always
want more. And there always is more. You
turn the corner and there is yet another un-
believable set that David created the night
before that is so fabulous you think you are
dreaming. Even the art director couldn’t
think this one up and we all begin to laugh
really hard. And we all dance to the music.
It is simply amazing and so much fun. I
don’t want the day to end but it does and
David gives me a hug. I must go back for
more because I feel so alive and so loved.
Expressing oneself is an art. David is fear-
less with his expressions, his love and I can
touch it – it is all real. My favorite shoot is
the fifteen foot tall silver sea serpent David
had built and put in the ocean with our
celeb riding it in the waves. They could
have been electrocuted but nothing stops
David from getting the shot!
I love you David!
N°457 SPECIAL DAVID LACHAPELLE
sense and acute understanding of what
BERNIE HOGYA
CREATIVE DIRECTOR, LOWE NY
I once heard the expression that an idea is
like a snowball passed among warm hands.
makes something great are what separate
him from every other photographer in the
world.
It is a great honor of mine to have worked
with David LaChapelle, and I can’t wait until
Therefore, when you have a great idea, it is
imperative that you do everything you can
to make sure that it is executed as great as
our next project together.
it can possibly be.
To that aim, I have always believed that the
best path to success is to hire the best ta-
INGRID BARAJAS
"More than a world of colors and fascina-
lent in the world. It is why I find myself time ting addictive photography,
and time again relying on David’s immense David LaChapelle's work is inspiring to ge-
talents. nerations, proving that art is not just in all of
The “Got milk?” celebrity milk mustache us, but for all of us"
campaign was my idea. It was a big idea "LaChapelle's photographs delight us with
that over the years has not only successfully a colorful and insightful
sold milk but remains one of the most po- contemporary interpretation filled with pop
pular, iconic print advertising campaigns in art that seldom few ever
America. accomplish given the sensitive and mea-
There are a lot of accomplished photogra- ningful intelligence his artistical images en-
phers who specialize in celebrity portraits. tail."
But there is only one David LaChapelle. He
is an original. A visionary. A one-of-a-kind.
Creative people tend to think of advertising
as an art form, but it is mostly a commercial
endeavor. It is a business. There’s a product
to sell, a strategy to execute and a client’s
needs to satisfy.
David does it all, and along the way ma-
nages to bring imagination, artistry and an
incredible “I dare you to turn the page” ap-
peal to everything he does. His pictures
burn in your memory. They start where eve-
rything else stops. His eye candy art direc-
tion, vivid color vocabulary, keen design
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 N°457 SPECIAL DAVID LACHAPELLE

VICTOR VELEZ
CREATIVE DIRECTOR, NYC
For most of my career, no one has been
more of a driving force than David Lacha-
pelle and to collaborate with him, for any ar-
tist, is a dream come true. It was certainly
mine. To glimpse into the mind of this mo-
dern day genius is to find a world where the
likes of Caravaggio and Vermeer collide to
create a world beyond reality and beauty,
where art meets modern culture. He will un-
doubtedly continue to influence all of us for
many years to come. Thank you David for
letting us experience the world through your
incredible vision.

NORA SALVAGGIO
REMY COINTREAU
'David exceeded our expectations during
the development of Remy Martin VSOP's
first limited edition. Not only did he capture
our brand's essence and energy with a
stunning RBG image - he worked with us to
ensure that the final limited edition bottle
and gift box were gorgeous.
David remained involved throughout the de-
velopment process, regularly contributing
his point of view and assisting us in making
judgement calls. For example we experien-
ced real challenges when adapting the ori-
ginal RBG image to create the bottle sleeve.
It was impossible to reproduce the desired
skin tones without affecting the blue hues in
the surrounding foliage. When we approa-
ched David with this issue - he asked to see
the prototypes. After studying these care-
fully, he explained that it was acceptable to
have slight color variances so long as we
delivered a truly beautiful bottle. Working
with David is a pleasure; he is incredibly ta-
lented, original, inspired, exacting, commit-
ted, humble and hilarious.

10