WHERE SEPTEMBER 1999 
NEW YORK
CAMERA KARMA
: Behind the lens of visionary photographer David LaChapelle
Usually I am not one who agonizes over what to wear. But when I found myself ripping my closet apart to find the perfect outfit in which to meet the artist whose unfettered and fantasylike photographs have altered the way fashion is viewed, I knew I was not just conducting an interview: I was conveying an image.

And image is precisely what David LaChapelle creates. Recipient of the 1997 International Center of Photography's Infinity Award, the 1996 VH1 Fashion Award for Photographer of the Year and voted one of the most important people in photography by Photo magazine, the 35-year-old New Yorker has redefined style with his surreal perception of pop culture. Mixing glamour with fantasy, his colorful cosmic photos of icons-Madonna posing with dragons, Leonardo DiCaprio as a leather-clad porn star-have graced the pages of such magazines as Details, Rolling Stone, Interview and Vanity Fair. His limitless imagination has also become a cultural cue, fueling advertising campaigns for Pepsi, Diesel, Levis and MTV, to name a few.

Although a celebrity himself, LaChapelle is not just about fashion, fame and the glamorous life. Walking from his modest East Village apartment to his studio on 13th Street through Tompkins Square Park, he is inspired most by nature. "Touching the big Hare Krishna tree every day in the park is one of the greatest pleasures and rituals I have, and it's a reason why I love New York," he said. "People just don't get it. We don't reach enlightenment through the pursuit of buying," he observed. "It teaches us nothing in relation to what's essential in life." And for LaChapelle what's essential in life is simple: fresh fruit, dharma and the ability to create. Hmmm … maybe what I decided to wear wasn't all that important after all.
-by ALYSSA C. SCHOTTLAND