Two minutes into our conversation, it's clear that David LaChapelle is a charmer. But while he's a clean-cut, in-his-prime, all-American alpha male, he is defined by neither charm nor good looks. If there are artists who capture the zeitgeist, he belongs to the tiny elite that creates the blueprint for the zeitgeist. Commercially speaking, he is the hottest photographer on the planet.

It could be a metaphor for our times and a symbol of hope, or it might seem like blasphemous pornography. Some may wonder whether it's pop culture or high art, and many will go through David LaChapelle's exhibition, which opened in Dublin last night...