Famous for his candy-slick photographs of celebrities and models, David LaChapelle is currently enjoying a mid-career retrospective at (appropriately enough) La Monnaie de Paris, the Paris Mint, at a moment when the artist has been insisting his work has an anti-capitalist message. Syma Tariq covered the show for the Guardian:
LaChapelle received his first professional commission from Andy Warhol,
who encountered him while he was a bus boy in Studio 54. The influence
is clear when viewing the Marilyn Monroe-like rendering of Amanda
Lepore, the transsexual who is one of the photographer's muses (Amanda
as Andy Warhol's Liz RED, 2007). "I want to communicate, without my
work needing a paragraph on the wall next to it," he says.
While I have always liked LaChapelle's wild imagination and his over-the-top portraits, I also think his portrayal of women often leaves much to be desired. For example, I wonder what exactly he is trying to communicate by photographing a woman lying unconscious on the ground or inert under a giant slice of cheese while Jeff Koons leers above her. You can see those particular images and more, and judge for yourself, in the NSFW gallery here.