LaChapelle Land: Photographs by David LaChapelle

New York: Simon & Schuster, 1996. Limited First edition. Hardcover. vg to fine. Folio. 152pp. Original photo-illustrated glossy paper covered boards. Book housed in its illustrated slipcase designed by Japanese graphic artist Tadanori Yokoo. Pictorial endpapers. Color frontispiece. This striking and colorful collection of 151 cutting-edge photographs blend fifties kitsch and nineties cyberculture, as they capture the worlds of fashion, advertising, Hollywood, and music. "In the afterword to this dizzying collection of his photographs, fashion and celebrity photographer LaChapelle says: "If there's an exhibitionist left who wants his or her picture taken, I'll be there." His pictures of the famous and not-so-famous in outrageous poses and situations bear this out. Following Truman Capote's dictum that "good taste is the death of art," he shoots Faye Dunaway flat on her back on top of a limousine, Tom Jones hanging off a truck in a pink cat suit, a porn star in Times Square on an overstuffed chair surrounded by balloons, naked people piled up in Plexiglas boxes and other bizarre scenes, all in garish colors. Like children trashing a grownups' party, the models smash the furniture, scatter the debris and smear everyone with Reddi Whip and cake frosting, giggling all the while, creating swirls of eye candy that will delight those who cherish style and equate surface and substance" (Publishers Weekly). Closed tear at upper left corner of box cover. Box in overall very good, binding and interior in fine condition.