Photographer and filmmaker David LaChapelle (American, born March 11, 1963) is famous for his work in fashion, advertising, and Fine Arts. Born in Connecticut, LaChapelle attended the North Carolina School of the Arts and the School of Visual Arts in New York, landing a photography job at Andy Warhol’s Interview magazine while still in high school. He has gone on to photograph celebrities for numerous popular magazines, such as Rolling Stone, Vogue, and Vanity Fair; his roster of famous subjects include Madonna, Lance Armstrong, Elizabeth Taylor, Leonardo DiCaprio, Hillary Clinton, and Muhammad Ali, as well as fellow Fine artist Jeff Koons.

In the 1990s, LaChapelle expanded his production to include videos, and has filmed many successful music videos, advertisements, and television show trailers. Deeply influenced by Surrealism, LaChapelle’s work walks the line between fashion and Fine Arts, as he often melds canonical images from art history with contemporary figures and settings. LaChapelle currently works in studios in New York and Paris.

Timeline

1963
Born in Fairfield, USA
1995
Named “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
“Applied Photography of the Year Award” from The International Center of Photography
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
1999
Honored in the “Cover of the Year” category at the Eisies
Placed second on CNN’s list of “20 to Watch in 2000”
2000
Won "Best Video" for Moby's "Nature Blues" at the MTV Europe Music Awards
2003
12th Annual MVPA (Music Video Production Association) Awards Adult Contemporary Video of the Year: Elton John "This Train Don't Stop There Anymore"
2004
MVPA Director of The Year for No Doubt "It's My Life"
MVPA Best Rock Video of The Year for No Doubt "It's My Life"
VMA Best Group Video of The Year for No Doubt "It's My Life"
VMA Best Pop Video of The Year for No Doubt "It's My Life"
Winner of Best Documentary Aspen Film Festival
Special Juried Recognition Sundance Film Festival
Special Juried Prize Mountain Film in Telluride
13th Annual MVPA Awards - Winner 'Director of the Year' 'Best Rock Video of the Year' for No Doubt "It's My Life"
2005
Voted One of The "25 Most Influential Living Photographers" PDN
2006
Honored with Vito Russo Award (2006 GLADD Media Awards)

Exhibitions

2013
Krakow Photomonth Festival, National Museum in Krakow, Krakow, Poland
The Armory Show, New York, USA
Art Basel, Switzerland
Divine Bodies, Laing Art Gallery, Newcastle, England
Still Life, Galerie Daniel Templon, Paris, France
Art Basel, Hong Kong
2012
Unnatural - Natural History, Royal West of England Academy, Bristol, England
Earth Laughs in Flowers, The Solo Project, Basel, Switzerland
The Haberdashery, Eric Firestone Gallery, East Hampton, USA
Hong Kong Art Fair, Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre, Hong Kong
MIA, Milan Image Art Fair, Robilant + Voena, Milan, Italy
MIART, Milan International Modern And Contemporary Art Fair, Robilant + Voena, Milan, Italy
Group Show, Patricia Low Contemporary, St. Moritz, Switzerland
David LaChapelle, Texas Contemporary Art Fair, Houston, USA
David LaChapelle, Frieze Art Fair, London, England
About Caravaggio Visioni & Illusioni Contemporanee, Museo Tuscolano -Scuderie Aldobrandini, Rome, Italy
Figure and Form in Contemporary Photography, Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Los Angeles, USA
Everywhere and Nowhere, Villa Jauss, Oberstdorf, Germany
Making History, Museum für Moderne Kunst Frankfurt, Frankfurt, Germany
Still Life, Paul Kasmin Gallery, New York, USA
Addicted to Passion, Arendt & Medernach, Luxembourg
Jesus Is My Homeboy, Jablonka Galerie, Cologne, Germany
Earth Laughs in Flowers, Patricia Low Contemporary, Geneva, Switzerland
Earth Laughs in Flowers, Fred Torres Collaborations, New York, USA
Earth Laughs in Flowers, Robilant + Voena, Milan, Italy
Earth Laughs in Flowers, Robilant + Voena, London, England
Earth Laughs in Flowers, Reformiere Dorfkirche, St. Moritz, Switzerland
Burning Beauty, Fotografiska Museet, Stockholm, Sweden (solo)
David LaChapelle, Lu.CCA Museum, Lucca, Italy (solo)
Artist of the Year, American Friends of the Tel Aviv Museum, New York, USA (solo)
David LaChapelle, BEXCO Art Center, Busan, Korea (solo)
2011
David LaChapelle: Negative Currency and Recollections in America, Prism Gallery, Los Angeles, USA (solo)
David LaChapelle: Earth Laughs in Flowers, Serge Maruani & Alain Noirhomme Gallery, Knokke, Belgium (solo)
The Raft, De Sarthe Fine Art, Hong Kong
David LaChapelle Early Work, Michelman Fine Art, New York, USA (solo)
Cocktail Culture, Norton Museum of Art, West Palm Beach, USA
Leonardo. Il Genio, il Mito, Venaria Reale, Turin, Italy
Role Models and Role Playing, Museum Der Moderne Salzburg, Salzburg, Austria
The Fashion World Of Jean Paul Gaultier: From the Street to the Stars, The Montreal Museum Of Fine Art, Montreal, Canada
Beauty Culture, Annenberg Space For Photography, Los Angeles, USA
Face Off: Contemporary Portraits by Contemporary Artists, Lyman Allyn Museum, New London, USA
Body Gestures, Herzliya Museum Of Contemporary Art, Herzliya, Israel
The Lords and the New Creatures, NYE+BROWN, Los Angeles, USA
Boarders and Frontiers: Globalization, Temporality & Appropriation in the Contemporary Image, Oakland University Art Gallery, Rochester, USA
Thus Spoke LaChapelle, Galerie Rudolfinum, Prague, Czech Republic (solo)
David LaChapelle, Hangaram Design Museum - Seoul Art Center, Seoul, Korea (solo)
Nosotros: La Humanidad Al Borde, Museo de Arte Contemporaño de Puerto Rico, San Juan, Puerto Rico
David LaChapelle, Bratislava City Gallery, Bratislava, Slovakia (solo)
From Darkness to Light, Lever House, New York, USA (solo)
Shanghai Duolun Museum of Modern Art, Shanghai, China (solo)
David LaChapelle: Earth Laughs in Flowers, Hannover, Germany (solo)
2010
Frieze Art Fair, London, England
Restart, Tavi Art Gallery, Tel Aviv, Israel
Divine Comedy, Sotheby's Gallery, New York, USA
Real Interface, Gana Art, Busan, Korea
Knock Knock: That Joke Isn't Funny Anymore, Armand Bartos Fine Art, New York, USA
David LaChapelle, Photo LA Presented by LACMA, Los Angeles, USA
Pervasive Influence: The Mechanical Bride, Museum of Contemporary Canadian Art, Toronto, Canada
David LaChapelle, Central Connecticut State University, New Britain, USA
Atopia, Arte Y Ciudad en el Siglo XXI, Barcelona, Spain
Real Interface, Gana Art Busan, Busan, Korea
David LaChapelle, Galería Leyendecker, Tenerife, Spain (solo)
David LaChapelle: Documents of Desire & Disasters, Paul Kasmin Gallery, Istanbul, Turkey (solo)
American Jesus, Paul Kasmin Gallery, New York, USA
The Rape of Africa, Robilant + Voena, London, England (solo)
Eden, Alain Noirhomme Gallery, Brussels, Belgium
Post Modern Pop Photography, Tel Aviv Museum of Art, Tel Aviv, Israel (solo)
The Rape of Africa, Museum of Contemporary Canadian Art Mocca Courtyard, Toronto, Canada (solo)
David LaChapelle, MOCA Taipei, Taipei, Taiwan (solo)
2009
Cars And Money, Wolfgang Roth + Partners, Miami, USA
American Jesus, Sebastien Guinness Gallery, Dublin, Ireland
The Rape of Africa, David DeSanctis Gallery, Los Angeles, USA
The Rape of Africa, Galerie Alex Daniels, Amsterdam, The Netherlands (solo)
Who Shot Rock & Roll, Brooklyn Museum, New York, USA
Rape of Africa, Galleria d'Arte Moderna, Milan, Italy
Frieze Art Fair, London, England
Pop My Cherry, Patricia Low Contemporary, Geneva, Switzerland
Naked!, Paul Kasmin Gallery, New York, USA
Delirium of Reason, Museo De Las Artes, Guadalajara, Mexico (solo)
Retrospective, Musee de la Monnaie de Paris, Paris, France (solo)
Delirium of Reason, Antiguo Colegio de San Ildefonso, Mexico City, Mexico (solo)
2008
David LaChapelle, Forte Belvedere, Florence, Italy
David LaChapelle, National Museum, Krakow, Poland
David LaChapelle, Fotografiska Museet, Stockholm, Sweden
Heaven to Hell / Bellezas y Desastres, MUBE Museum, Sao Paolo, Brazil
Vanity Fair Portraits, National Portrait Gallery, London, England
Vanity Fair Portraits, Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Los Angeles, USA
Jesus is My Homeboy, Wolfgang Roth + Partners, Miami, USA (solo)
Jesus is My Homeboy, Robilant + Voena, London, England (solo)
Auguries of Innocence, Tony Shafrazi Gallery, New York, USA (solo)
Jesus is my Homeboy, St. Moritz Art Masters, St. Moritz, Switzerland (solo)
Jesus is My Homeboy, TEFAF (Rafael Jablonka), Maastricht, The Netherlands (solo)
David LaChapelle, Forte Belvedere, Florence, Italy (solo)
David LaChapelle, National Museum, Krakow, Poland (solo)
David LaChapelle, Fotografiska Museet, Stockholm, Sweden (solo)
Heaven to Hell / Bellezas y Desastres, MUBE Museum, Sao Paolo, Brazil (solo)
2007
Awakened, Galería Leyendecker, Tenerife, Spain (solo)
Awakened, Jablonka Galerie, Frieze Art Fair, London, England (solo)
David LaChapelle, La Galerie Delphine Pastor, Monaco (solo)
Awakened, Goss Gallery, Dallas, USA (solo)
Awakened, Tony Shafrazi Gallery, New York, USA (solo)
David LaChapelle, Palazzo Reale, Milan, Italy
Heaven to Hell / Bellezas y Desastres, MALBA Museum, Buenos Aires, Argentina
David LaChapelle, Palazzo Reale, Milan, Italy (solo)
Heaven to Hell / Bellezas y Desastres, MALBA Museum, Buenos Aires, Argentina (solo)
2006
VIP: Very Important Portraits, Capodimonte Museum, Naples, Italy
Men, War, & Peace, Helmut Newton Foundation, Berlin, Germany
Heaven to Hell, Jablonka Galerie, Berlin, Germany
David LaChapelle, La Galerie Du XX (w/ Maruani Noirhomme), Paris, France (solo)
VIP: Very Important Portraits, Capodimonte Museum, Naples, Italy (solo)
Men & War, Helmut Newton Foundation, Berlin, Germany
2005
David LaChapelle Pictures for Italian Vogue, Staley Wise Gallery, New York, USA (solo)
Grand Opening: David LaChapelle, Goss Gallery, Dallas, USA (solo)
David LaChapelle, Galerie Alex Daniels, Amsterdam, The Netherlands (solo)
David LaChapelle, Maruani Noirhomme Gallery, Knokke, Belgium (solo)
Artists Prostitutes, Deitch Projects, New York, USA
Men & War, Helmut Newton Foundation, Berlin, Germany
David LaChapelle, All American, KALS'ART, Palermo, Italy
2004
Portraits of Musicians, Palais Kinsky - Rudolf Budja Galerie, Freyung, Vienna, Austria
All American, Tony Shafrazi Gallery, New York, USA
2003
David LaChapelle, Moscow Photo Festival (James Gallery), Moscow, Russia
All American, Rockefeller Center, Montblanc International, New York, USA
Third International Festival: Fashion and Style in Photography, Moscow House of Photography, Moscow, Russia
VANITY FAIR , Torch Gallery, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
2002
David LaChapelle, Barbican Museum, London, England
LACHAPELLE, Kunsthaus Wien, Vienna, Austria
David LaChapelle, Barbican Museum, London, England
LACHAPELLE, Kunsthaus Wien, Vienna, Austria
2001
David LaChapelle, Galleria Carla Sozzani, Milan, Italy (solo)
Fish Stick, Camerawork Gallery, Berlin, Germany (solo)
David LaChapelle, Photology (Villa Impero), Bologna, Italy (solo)
David LaChapelle, Baldwin Gallery, Aspen, USA (solo)
2000
David LaChapelle, Fahey Klein Gallery, Los Angeles, USA (solo)
Il Secolo Della Fotoarte, Villa Impero, Bologna, Italy
Femmes Plus Que Femmes, Museo de Arte Brazileira, Sao Paolo, Brazil
Chic Thrills: Pop-Surealism in Photography, Cokkie Snoei, Rotterdam, The Netherlands
1999
David LaChapelle, Tony Shafrazi Gallery, New York, USA (solo)
20th Festival de la Mode, Galleries LaFayette, Paris, France
Hotel LaChapelle, Palazzo delle Esposizioni, Rome, Italy
The Beautiful & Bizarre, School of Visual Arts, New York, USA
1998
David LaChapelle, Palacio Pombal, Lisbon, Portugal
LaChapelle Land, Les Recontres D'Arles, Arles, France
Fashion at the Beach, Bass Museum. Miami Beach, USA
LaChapelle Land, Les Rencontres D'Arles. Arles, France (solo)
David LaChapelle, Palacio Pombal, Lisbon, Portugal
LaChapelle Land, Les Recontres D'Arles, Arles, France
1997
LaChapelle Land, Parco Gallery, Tokyo, Japan (solo)
LaChapelle Land, Photology, Milan, Italy (solo)
1996
LaChapelle Land, Staley Wise Gallery, New York, USA (solo)
1995
Javier Cibachromes, Trabia MacAfee, New York, USA (solo)
1993
PomPom Croissant, Tomoko Ligouri Gallery. New York, USA (solo)
1991
Facility of Movement, Tomoko Ligouri Gallery. New York, USA (solo)
1989
Life Never Dies, Mars, New York, USA
Mirrors of God + the Intervention of St. Lucy, Trabia MacAfee Gallery, New York, USA (solo)
Somewhere Better, Trabia MacAfee Gallery, New York, USA (solo)
The Center Show, The Lesbian + Gay Center, New York, USA
David LaChapelle, Santa Fe Center for Photography, Santa Fe, USA
1988
Grand Windows, Grand Central Station, New York, USA
Your Needs Met, 56 Bleecker Gallery, New York, USA (solo)
1986
Taking Pictures is Fun, Palladium, New York, USA
1984
Angels, Saints, & Martyrs, 303 Gallery (Lisa Spellman/ Colin Deland), New York, USA (solo)
Good News for Modern Man, 303 Gallery (Lisa Spellman/ Colin Deland), New York, USA (solo)

Literature

2012
Burning Beauty
Fotografiska Museet, Sweden
Elanders Fälth & Hässler
2012
David LaChapelle
Hangaram Design Museum and BEXCO Art Center
2012
LaChapelle
LaChapelle
2011
Thus Spoke LaChapelle
Galerie Rudolfinum, Prague
2011
Borders and Frontiers
Oakland University Art Gallery
2010
David LaChapelle
MOCA Taipei
2010
Earth Laughs In Flowers
Kestnergesellschaft Hannover
Distanz
2010
Heaven to Hell: Taschen Golden Books 30th Anniversary
Taschen
2010
Bliss Amongst Chaos
Maybach
2010
Maybach: Going Places
Daimler AG
2009
Who Shot Rock and Roll: A Photographic History
The Brooklyn Museum
2009
The Rape of Africa
Reflex Amsterdam
2008
David LaChapelle
Al Forte Belvedere
Giunti
2008
David LaChapelle
Fotografie
Stern
2008
Jesus is My Homeboy
Robilant and Voena
2007
David LaChapelle
Palazzo Reale
Giunti
2007
'David LaChapelle' Palazzo Reale
'LaChapelle, Heaven to Hell' Taschen
2006
'LaChapelle, Artists & Prostitutes' Taschen
2006
David LaChapelle
Maurani & Niorhomme Gallery in collaboration with La Galerie du XX Siecle in Paris, France
2006
Artists and Prostitutes
Taschen
2006
Heaven to Hell
Taschen
2005
Taschen 25th Anniversary
Taschen
2004
'David LaChapelle' Photology
2003
'Eros Fotografia' Gruppo Editoriale L'Espresso
2003
“If you want reality, take the bus”
Artmosphere
2003
David LaChapelle
Eros Fotografia
2002
David LaChapelle Photographs
Barbican
2001
David LaChapelle
Photology
2000
'Portfolio' Library of Photography Number 16. Te Neues Publishing Company
1999
'David LaChapelle' Palazzo delle Esposizinoi
'Hotel Lachapelle' Callaway Editions
1999
David LaChapelle: Exhibition
Palazzo delle Esposizioni
1999
Hotel LaChapelle
Bulfinich
1996
LaChapelle Land
Channel Photographics
1996
'LaChapelle Land' Callaway Editions