Photographer David LaChapelle Introduces "The New Humanity," Lavazza's 2021 Calendar
Among the artists taking part in the new Lavazza 2021 Calendar, titled "The New Humanity," is David LaChapelle, the unconventional photographer par excellence, who was discovered in the 1980s by Andy Warhol. Known for his post-pop surrealist style—certainly influenced by his belonging to the Factory—LaChapelle represents a violently colored world with a transgressive nuance. Rebellious to the rules and contrary to anything that lacks logic, he was often criticized for his excessively libertine vision. He went down in history for his homosexual reinterpretation of Alfred Eisenstaedt's shot for the VJ Day celebrations where a sailor kisses a nurse dressed in white. LaChapelle recreated the shot in his own way: two sailors kissing on the lips. It was a real scandal and many newspaper editors rejected LaChapelle's work. After all, in America in the '90s, it was still strongly forbidden for people belonging to the LGBTQ+ communities to enlist in the navy. The only one who understood the photograph's potential was the Diesel brand, which invited the rising star of photography to collaborate. From there the rest is history.
Since then, the photographer has cultivated a strong relationship with fashion and showbiz, lensing a number of famous faces from both realms, from muse Amanda Lepore to Madonna, Tupac Shakur to Eminem, Alexander McQueen to Isabella Blow, David Bowie to Naomi Campbell. There is no celebrity who has not wanted to be portrayed and become part of the kaleidoscopic imaginary à LaChapelle.L'OFFICIEL meets with the artist on the occasion of the launch of "The New Humanity" 2021 calendar for Lavazza, which includes one of LaChapelle's unpublished shots.
L'OFFICIEL: Your shot is very direct. The face does not appear but only a portion of the body and a sterlizia. Is there a special reason behind choosing that specific flower?
DAVID LACHAPELLE: To be honest no, there wasn't a specific reason, I just liked the way she looked. There was a nice connection between the color of the flower and that of the leather. Showing the intimacy between the flower and the woman's body was the purpose of the photo.
L'O: What does "new humanity" mean to you? The concept is also the basis of the Lavazza project.
DL: I think it means different things to different people. I have lived my life trying to always improve myself as a human being and to relate to others in a healthy way.
L'O: What is your relationship with nature?
DL: We are part of nature, nature is the essence of everything. In a world that constantly labels, rewards, and tests us, it's important to keep our feet on the ground and remember where we come from.
L'O: What do you do in your everyday life to respect it?
DL: I have been living on a sustainable farm for 14 years, which uses solar energy. Here we grow our own food, fruit, and vegetables. I left the glossy world to take refuge in a small oasis of peace. I was at the top of the fashion world. It was the dream job of all those who wanted to do that kind of photography and I was living it! I'm glad I left, I would have been lost living that kind of lifestyle. If I had continued, it would have been for the wrong reasons.
L'O: Your saturated photograph looks like a rebellion against the minimal black and white of your work from the early 1990s. How has your style evolved?
DL: That's how I felt. At that time, the fashion world was very interested in grunge, black and white. The top names were Peter Lindbergh, Herb Ritts, Bruce Weber. It was also AIDS time, a dark time, and I started wondering if it wasn't worth taking pictures that would inspire people rather than darken them even more. As an artist you have this choice. I wanted to see an explosive color because it stood out and spoke of change, excitement, happiness, fun, and just plain irreverent without trying to be that way. I definitely think I've grown up, to be more and more true to myself. Now I really listen and dedicate myself only to what really interests me. I have grown a lot as a person, I understand myself better, I am more connected with myself and my interests.
L'O: How do you take a memorable photo?
DL: True artists take risks and risks and don't care about the repercussions. My photos are small worlds, where there is no limit to the imagination. If the photo provokes any form of emotion: pleasure, disgust, intrigue, fear it is in itself memorable. Whoever observes it determines it.
L'O: And what's your idea of beauty? According to your photos, you have always promoted different forms of beauty, as if to say that there is no real aesthetic canon.
DL: Yes, I have always found beauty in the different, and it has always been easy enough for me to find it. Because I think it is everywhere and that there are no rules. I try to make my work as inclusive as possible, I photograph everything that strikes me and surrounds me. Bodies, nudity, faces, expressions, physical characteristics of the most disparate can be found already from the first photos. And long before we even used words like diversity and inclusion.
L'O: Can you still cultivate a photographer-muse bond nowadays or have celebrities become more unapproachable?
DL: Actually, I think it's gotten better now, believe it or not. With the Internet and with so many more images out there, people are much more open to engaging in dialogue. Today's celebrities understand that good photographers don't grow on trees and want to collaborate with artists who have something to say and do it through images never seen before. It is a really good time for that! But when the stars start talking about themselves as a "brand," my eyes cloud over and I just want to go back to Maui and go to the woods.
"The New Humanity": The Lavazza 2021 Calendar
On the occasion of its new project "The New Humanity," Lavazza invites a collective of artists to represent what the theme means to them. In a world made of distance and barriers between individuals, the coffee company tries to build a bridge through the universal language of art, which speaks straight to the heart. Thirteen masters of photography present 13 shots for the Lavazza 2021 Calendar to appeal to our sensitivity, to rediscover the essence of what makes us human and part of a global community. A project that focuses on social sustainability, the proceeds from the sales of the limited-edition calendars will go to support New Horizons, a sustainable development project that fosters the autonomy of the most vulnerable young people in Calcutta, India.
The featured photographers include Christy Lee Rogers, Denis Rouvre, Carolyn Drake, Steve McCurry, Charlie Davoli, Ami Vitale, Martha Cooper, David LaChapelle, Martin Schoeller, Joey L., Eugenio Recuenco, Simone Bramante, and Toiletpaper. Furthermore, in the magazine accompanying the calendar, there are six ambassadors of the project, six voices called to interpret and amplify the multiple meanings of the New Humanity, starting from their own personal experience: the architect Carlo Ratti, the fashion designer Stella Jean, writer Alessandro Baricco, actress Kiera Chaplin, singer-songwriter Patti Smith, and CEO of Save The Children International Inger Ashing. They offer expressions of worlds adjacent to photography that enrich the conceptual vision of a New Humanity through different languages: a drawing, a written thought, a piece of music, or an architectural project.
