David LaChapelle

(born March 11, 1963 in Fairfield, Connecticut) is a photographer and director who works in the fields of fashion, advertising, and fine art photography, and is noted for his surreal, unique, sexualized, and often humorous style.

LaChapelle attended the North Carolina School of the Arts and School of Visual Arts in New York City. His first photograph was of his single mother, Helga LaChapelle, on a family vacation in Puerto Rico. She wore a bikini and held a martini glass on a balcony. From then on he was obsessed with photography.

His first professional assignment was from Andy Warhol as a photographer for Interview magazine. LaChapelle has four published books of his photographs, including LaChapelle Land (1996), and Hotel LaChapelle (1999), which contain vivid and surreal portraits of celebrities such as Marilyn Manson, Drew Barrymore and Uma Thurman.

LaChapelle directed singer Elton John's show, "The Red Piano" at Las Vegas' Caesars Palace, which premiered in 2004. The show features extensive use of video technology on an LED screen backing the show that, when built, was promoted as the largest and brightest of all time. Several of John's songs during the performance are accompanied by short films by LaChapelle.

His film "Rize" is a documentary on the krumping style of dance that invaded South Central Los Angeles, premiered at Sundance in 2005 and was released theatrically that summer. LaChapelle was the original director of Madonna's video the the 2005 hit Hung Up but fell apart due to creative differences with Madonna.