David LaChapelle the 48 year old US fashion, advertising and fine art photographer has recently been interviewed by Alexandra Ilyashov for Fashion Week Daily on the unveiling of his recent work ‘Earth Laughs in Flowers’, described as “a vibrant, vanitas-inspired spate of photos … which include decayed flowers, balloons, and burning cigarettes—and some touching tidbits from [his] teenhood stint at Interview.” During the interview LaChapelle stated, “The series is inspired by vanitas works by the old masters; all the objects had symbolic value and told a story, whether it was a fish, a knife, or a quill pen. Everyone’s done their flower series, whether it’s early [Irving] Penn, Mapplethorpe, Caravaggio, or Warhol. Vanitas reminds us of our connection to nature, and that life doesn’t go on forever. We have seasons, just like flowers. Spring is about youth and beauty; we age, ripen, and mature in summer and autumn, and then we decline and die in the winter of our lives. The title, “Earth Laughs In Flowers,” is taken from a line in an Emerson poem that I came across when I was halfway done with the series.”
Inspired by Alexandra Ilyashov http://ow.ly/9EaON image source the1secondfilm.com http://ow.ly/9Ebec
