TRIESTE It is still morning in Los Angeles. The photographer David LaChapelle he admits, smiling, that he’s just woken up and apologizes for his still messy hair. He has a calm tone, he makes a few jokes before starting the interview. He is very kind in his answers and moves calmly as he talks about his art, his relationship with religion and how he manages to find inspiration to create original and innovative works. It seems strange listening to him while he talks about how much he likes walking in the woods, if you think that he has photographed stars like Madonna, Leonardo DiCaprio, Angelina Jolie and many others.
He asks if it will rain in Trieste in the next few days, when he arrives on the occasion of the inauguration of his personal exhibition, “Fulmini”. He has never been to this part of Italy, he confesses, and for this very reason he is excited about the April 22 opening of the Salone degli Incanti.
How did you choose the Lightning title?
«Lightning is the flash of a photograph: when inspiration strikes, it manages to capture that moment. My idea for this exhibition is a light that comes from the sky and has the power to illuminate the earth».
And why did you choose a word in Italian?
«I liked it, I think it sounds better than in English!».
What is told in this exhibition?
“I tell many different stories at the same time. I want to give a picture of the world we live in, where the brevity of our life is confronted with the transcendental life that comes after, like Heaven. So you can see landscapes, as well as photographs that lead directly into the spirit world.”
With his works, he has in a certain sense reinvented religion. He took elements of traditional Christian iconography and completely transformed them. When did your relationship with religion begin?
«Already when I was little I was attracted by religion, it seems to me that I have always tried to feel the presence of God and the paintings I paint reflect the joy I feel in this search. When I create images, so many things happen that I can only think of them as miracles. As if God worked through me in creation.”
Is religion a fundamental part of your life?
“I put my trust in God, not in politicians. If we turn away from it, we are lost, we have seen it before… We have progressed with technology, but we have not progressed spiritually or morally since ancient times. Now I am finding God more and more even in nature, in the forest”.
Is it very important for you to be in contact with nature?
“I must always have trees near me! Even when I was little, I remember going to the woods all the time and it’s something I still do now. It’s like it helps me orient myself in life. For me the forest is a kind of cathedral and, in fact, even there, while I’m just walking in the woods, I have the feeling of connecting with God. And being in the forest inspires me a lot, it makes me feel good, it’s calming».
You are famous for creating photographs with spectacular, original sets. Can you tell the work behind the shot?
«Every set is different but, every time, I imagine myself in a theatre. You work for months to create the set, you create models, you imagine the scenography. And then the day of the service arrives and the adrenaline is unleashed in everyone. You have the prima ballerinas, the opera diva or the tabloid star and when these people walk into the set, then there, in that moment, magic happens! People start bringing in their talents and creativity and everything becomes even better than I had planned. Because when you collaborate with talented people, magic can happen».
What is the last work you worked on?
«We have just completed this project which will be released in September, on the Via Crucis. It was very emotional, all about getting out of the way and letting things happen on their own.”
And how does inspiration come?
«One morning I wake up with inspiration and it seems to me that it comes from heaven, because it can’t come from inside me, from my brain. It definitely comes from a better place. Other times, however, I have no inspiration for weeks or months. And then they come back, waves of inspirations come, for example, while I’m walking. And you have to let them into you.”
He began by taking photographs that spoke of the AIDS epidemic in the 1980s. Do you think that art can still have a political role today?
«Art is always a testimony of the time in which we live. I use art perhaps more as a balm, a kind of antidote to the fallen world we now live in. We live in this precarious world, we have wars, extinction, a changing climate. You can’t think about the future because it creates anxiety. Art helps us to overcome all this: it is a protection, an escape to a better place».
Has art always had this role?
«I believe that the history of art is real history. Because art reveals the values of society, of what society was thinking at that moment. It tells us so much about the world. Art is the narrator of history».
Who is one of your favorite painters?
“Paintings like Botticelli’s are still relevant today: they tell us about the God of War and the Goddess of Beauty and the love and conflict between them. And we are still dealing with these tensions today.”
You have worked in the fashion world for a long time. How did you manage to unite this world with what you are talking about, with the religious aspect?
«For a long time I thought they were two separate and very different worlds, but now they seem more like integral parts of my story. I absolutely don’t want to discount the work I’ve done with the musicians or famous people who make up the world today. I believe that if religious and, let’s say, secular works unite, they are stronger. There cannot be only the religious world without the attraction towards the material world. This tension between the material and spiritual world attracts me.”
And how does he work to represent this tension?
«I want to make works that bring light to the world, a little escapism and also some humour. I want to add beauty to the world, not more confusion, we have enough of that already! And there’s enough darkness already. I want to give clarity and color, a narrative that touches people. I want to create works of art that give nourishment, as music often does».
How important is music in your life?
“It has been a privilege for me to photograph so many great musicians, people I grew up listening to, like Stevie Wonder or Elton John. I photographed the singers who made the music I loved as a child!”
I would add that he has photographed singers loved by several generations of children, from Eminem to Miley Cyrus…
«Music reminds me that, as artists, we can not only be creators, but we must also put ourselves in the shoes of the audience. We must receive what others have worked to create. And great artists can really influence us in a positive way, they can help us and inspire us».
You have photographed many icons of our world but, at the same time, you yourself have become an icon for art and photography. How do you live this experience?
«I had never thought about it… I don’t know if I feel like an icon. But I know I’m very lucky to be able to create something that many artists don’t have the opportunity to do, because they live in a country where there is a war or because they struggle to bring food to their family’s table. I feel like I’m someone with a privilege and a blessing, and I don’t want to waste it. It is a gift to have the creative abilities and to have the possibilities to express them».