Artist of the Week: David LaChapelle

 David LaChapelle

All of LaChapelle's work seems vibrant and colorful, giving a 'larger than life' feeling. I would categorize his work as artistic portraits. His works are far more over-the-top in color and vibrancy than any other artist covered in this segment, which I appreciate. This flashy, aesthetic style is a change from the norm, and stimulates the brain far more than many other monochrome, ordinary, and all around boring style of photography.

His works show an amplification of the character photographed in each shot far more than other portrait photographers, like Annie Leibovitz or Yousuf Karsh.

I would say that I like this eccentric, almost cartoony method of photography. LaChapelle's work seems meticulously planned, and also catches the essence of the 90's, at least through the eyes of someone who never experienced that time period. Someone could most likely recreate these works, however the pseudo-LaChapelle would most likely lack the amount of flare and outlandishness that the authentic artist's works radiate.

“I believe in a visual language that should be as strong as the written word.”

This quote reminds me of the old adage that says 'A picture is worth a thousand words,' and LaChapelle amplifies this message.  Each work is acutely detailed and tells a story through the positioning of props and people. There are also ways to talk through nonverbal activities, such as American Sign Language, or basic human body language, showing that there ways around a verbal speech barrier. Although, that is hardly relevant to the quote. LaChapelle is saying that something visual can get a message across just as efficiently as text, and I would argue that the message can be received more efficiently than text, at least for some. I wholeheartedly agree with LaChapelle's argument.