David LaChapelle doubtlessly is one of the most extraordinary and well-known contemporary photographers. He developed an interest in photography from an early point on. Following anecdote is often mentioned in this context: The only six-year-old David LaChapelle took a photo of his mother wearing a bikini, holding a glass of Martini in her hand. Little to everyone's surprise, he decided to pursue an artistic career. Direct contact with other artists had decisive impact on LaChapelle: He met Andy Warhol at the Studio 54, who discovered his talent and became his patron. David LaChapelle soon began to shoot photographs for Warhol's magazine "Interview". More jobs followed and David LaChapelle was active for magazines like Rolling Stone, Vogue or Vanity Fair. Elizabeth Taylor, Madonna, Leonardo DiCaprio or Muhammad Ali were among the celebrities that David LaChapelle made shots of. David LaChapelle began to make a name for himself as director of music videos and commercials in the 1990s. In 2005 his first documentary "Rize", in which he depicted urban dance culture in LA's African American neighborhoods, followed. David LaChapelle's works oscillate between art, advertisement and fashion. Surrealism, Pop-Art and Post-modernism have left their traces in his visionary and imaginative oeuvre.
His photographs were acknowledged as independent works of art from an early point on. Several important solo-shows at renowned museums deliver proof thereof. Most worthwhile mentioning are the exhibitions at the Fotografiska Museet in Stockholm (2012), at the Kestner-Gesellschaft in Hanover (2011), at the Tel Aviv Museum of Art (2010), the Musee de la Monnaie de Paris (2009), at Palazzo Reale in Milan (2007/08), the Museo di Capodimonte in Naples (2006) or at the Kunsthaus Vienna (2002).