David La Chapelle: Beyond Reality

As I've mentioned time and time before I am not only enamored by photographers but have an insane amount of respect for them as well. My first camera was made by Fisher Price. I must have been about 8 when I got it for my birthday ...or was it Christmas? I can't remember but I do recall many of my first shots were outside in the sun and my birthday is June and since I didn't really get gifts other than Christmas or my birthday, I'll go with my birthday. ...all of which is irrelevant.

I distinctly remember wasting my first roll of film on a party my parents were throwing in the backyard ..hell, maybe it was my birthday. I remember setting up the shots, thinking they were going to come out SO GREAT only to be let down when I picked up the film ...blankly staring at legs ...bodies without heads ...cake.

They were horrible. What I saw in my head visually I could not recreate in photo form. I was disappointed in my creations but didn't stop taking photos. I knew, however, that my future was not that of a photographer.

I did learn how to manipulate photos digitally though in ways that I could never get through just the lens which were more fantastical to me because they were beyond reality ...they were better!

And this is what Photographer David La Chapelle creates ...a fantastical reality. He did dabble in digitally retouching much of his early 90's work but now prefers to create visually stimulating surreal and many times humorous sets with a team of artists to help him capture anything in his vividly imaginative mind. Many don't consider him an artist but I do ...and I am truly inspired by his mind.

Here are some of my favorites . . . {although, really ...I love them all}





















...more here