LaChapelle, Heaven to Hell (Photo Books) (v. 3) (Hardcover)

~ Benedikt Taschen (Creator)

Editorial Reviews

Review

?The only link between Andy Warhol and J-Lo.? ?GQ, London, on David LaChapelle

Product Description

The third installment of LaChapelle’s trilogy

LaChapelle Heaven to Hell is the long-awaited third volume in an exhilarating trilogy that began with LaChapelle Land (1996) and continued with the infamous Hotel LaChapelle (1999). Packed with astonishing, color-saturated, and provocative images, those titles both became instant collector’s items and have since gone through multiple printings. Featuring almost twice as many images as its predecessors, LaChapelle Heaven to Hell is an explosive compilation of new work by the visionary photographer. Since the publication of Hotel LaChapelle, the strength of LaChapelle’s work lies in its ability to focus the lens of celebrity and fashion toward more pressing issues of societal concern.

LaChapelle’s images—of the most famous faces on the planet, and marginalized figures like transsexual Amanda Lepore or the cast of his critically acclaimed social documentary Rize—call into question our relationship with gender, glamour, and status. Using his trademark baroque excess, LaChapelle inverts the consumption he appears to celebrate, pointing instead to apocalyptic consequences for humanity itself. While referencing and acknowledging diverse sources such as Renaissance, art history, cinema, The Bible, pornography, and the new globalized pop culture, LaChapelle has fashioned a deeply personal and epoch-defining visual language that holds up a mirror to our times.

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Product Details Hardcover: 320 pages Publisher: Taschen; illustrated edition edition (November 30, 2006) Language: English ISBN-10: 3822825727 ISBN-13: 978-3822825723 Product Dimensions: 15 x 11.8 x 1.6 inches Shipping Weight: 8.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies) Average Customer Review: 4.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews) Amazon.com Sales Rank: #50,704 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books) Popular in these categories: (What's this?) #43 in  Books > Arts & Photography > Photography > Photojournalism #85 in  Books > Nonfiction > Foreign Language Nonfiction > German #91 in  Books > Nonfiction > Foreign Language Nonfiction > French

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What Do Customers Ultimately Buy After Viewing This Item?

	76% buy the item featured on this page: LaChapelle, Heaven to Hell (Photo Books) (v. 3) 4.9 out of 5 stars (8) $44.10
	13% buy Hotel Lachapelle 4.5 out of 5 stars (26) $37.80
	5% buy David LaChapelle Stern Portfolio (Stern Fotografie Portfolio) $29.70
	4% buy LaChapelle Land 4.6 out of 5 stars (5) $37.80

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Customer Reviews

8 Reviews 5 star:  (7) 4 star:  (1) 3 star:    (0) 2 star:    (0) 1 star:    (0)           Average Customer Review 4.9 out of 5 stars (8 customer reviews)		Share your thoughts with other customers:
Most Helpful Customer Reviews 19 of 21 people found the following review helpful: 5.0 out of 5 stars Good collection of his more recent work, December 8, 2006 By  N. Schweitzer (Tempe, AZ United States) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)    Amazon Verified Purchase I am a fan of David Lachapelle, however I mostly enjoy his more recent work (i.e., the colorful, surreal, sometimes bizarre photos of people and celebrities). Fortunately, Heaven to Hell highlights these recent works, with some photos coming from as recent as the early 2006. In addition, some of the photos from his crazy-expensive "artists and prostitutes" book are included here. I'd say the photos are split 50/50 between celebrity portraits and general artistic portraits. And, like his previous works, sexual overtones abound. This is a large book that is substantially longer than his previous books (Lachapelle Land and Hotel Lachapelle). I am quite happy with this book. It showcases the style that has made David Lachapelle my favorite photographer. 5.0 out of 5 stars Very Interesting Photo Book, February 10, 2009 By  Simpson Fan "Sarah" (Sarah) - See all my reviews I loved the outrages photo's and celebrities. It is shocking and very interesting and I want to see the other collects. 5.0 out of 5 stars Much Too Much to Absorb At One Sitting, September 8, 2008 By  James R. Holland "Author of Adventure Photogr... (Boston, MA) - See all my reviews (TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)       Amazon Verified Purchase We've all gone to an art museum and after about an hour of seeing one masterpiece after another, we've reached the saturation point and can really not properly absorb seeing any more art no how matter how great it is. This boxed, coffee table book of color photographs had the same effect on me as becoming saturated in an unfamiliar museum. This Taschen printed volume differs from his earlier "David LaChapelle" catalogue in that it is 11 1/4 by 14 1/4 inch format and it's possible to really study the photographs. Most of these images are slick, surreal, erotic fantasy images. There are a few relatively straight portraits of major celebrities. The Portrait of a self-satisfied looking Hillary Clinton standing behind her almost empty, spotless office desk is one of those relatively straight-forward portraits. The photo is titled "Hillary Clinton, Century 21, 2001." Thanks to the large format double-page spread the reader is able to notice a lonely red apple sitting on the desk like it was just left by a admiring student. Unfortunately the apple is rotten and one can almost see the worm crawling out from the large black hole in the side of the fruit. Was this portrait some kind of future omen? The book has many series such as the "Scarface Series", the "Taxi Driver Series", "What Will You Wear When You're Dead? Series", "Jesus Series" and the "Drunken American Series." There are several pictures that weren't necessarily part of a particular series, but were the same locations and sets used in several different series. One fire ravaged bedroom was the set for a portrait of Pink and titled "We Used to Have Fun, 2002." The same set minus Pink, was titled "Tina Used to Be So Much Fun, 2000." In a previous book the same photo had the title "Mama Smoked A Crack Pipe and Wore Fancy Shoes, Los Angeles, 2000." There is nothing wrong with using different titles for the same pictures in a different use, but it is interesting to see. Changing the title can change the entire meaning of the photograph. Another example of the same photo with a different title is the one called "Pamela Anderson & Tommy Lee Pose Naked with Sharon Gault's Family, 1999." In "David LaChapelle" that same scene is titled, "Tommy Lee and Family, Los Angeles, 1999." This is such a wonderful book it's really impossible to do it justice. This one is more erotic and kinky than some of the photographer's earlier work, but even the nudes are so slick and plastic looking that they don't have much sex appeal. That's hard to imagine with so many photographs of Pamela Anderson, Lil' Kim, Angelina Jolie, and some of LaChapelle's other favorite drop-deal beautiful models and celebrities. Separating the various series are outstanding and far-out fanciful portraits of other celebrities including David Bowie, Sylvester Stallone, Philip Johnson, Robert Downey Jr., Muhammad Ali, Justin Timberlake, Jeff Koons, Alicia Keys, Elton John, Jocelyn Wildenstein, Toby Maguire, and Jude Law among others. Naturally the book contains plenty of LaChapelle's visual puns, parodies, far-side humor and satire. This is an amazing buffet of colorful visual delights. For some reason, it reminds me of looking at those wax or plastic models of meals or services that are so much a part of Japanese merchandising. That's not a criticism, just an observation. I very much enjoyed this collection of LaChapelle's concepts and finished pictures.		Ad feedback   Most Recent Customer Reviews 5.0 out of 5 stars Best Photographer/Artist since Warhol Love Lachapelle, pretty much an insane genius. His work is sexy, provocative, alluring, disturbing, insane, kinky, risqué, all while being too hot to handle... Read more Published 18 months ago by Aaron R. Morley 4.0 out of 5 stars good condition I got the book really fast! And it was perfect. Just a small scratch in the hard box. Published 19 months ago by Andoni Mutiloa 5.0 out of 5 stars A Collectible Mr La Chapelle does it again with tongue in cheek dark humor. I bought this for a friend who collects wild and bizarre photo books... Read more Published 20 months ago by Natasha 5.0 out of 5 stars Wonderfull book! Lachapelle is great. The book has an incredible edition. Pure quality. Enjoy this fine piece of contemporary art. Published 24 months ago by Cesar Augusto Almeida 5.0 out of 5 stars Delightful You will never find a fashion photography album like this. LaChapelle is credited to be the greatest fashion/celebrity portrayer and for sure this book attemps to encore his... Read more Published on November 3, 2007 by Hildacelia A. F. Moises Search Customer Reviews Only search this product's reviews

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 320 pages
• Publisher: Taschen; illustrated edition edition (November 30, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 3822825727
• ISBN-13: 978-3822825723
• Product Dimensions: 15 x 11.8 x 1.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #50,704 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

  Popular in these categories: (What's this?)

  #43 in	Books > Arts & Photography > Photography > Photojournalism
  #85 in	Books > Nonfiction > Foreign Language Nonfiction > German
  #91 in	Books > Nonfiction > Foreign Language Nonfiction > French

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

19 of 21 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Good collection of his more recent work, December 8, 2006

By	N. Schweitzer (Tempe, AZ United States) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Amazon Verified Purchase

I am a fan of David Lachapelle, however I mostly enjoy his more recent work (i.e., the colorful, surreal, sometimes bizarre photos of people and celebrities). Fortunately, Heaven to Hell highlights these recent works, with some photos coming from as recent as the early 2006. In addition, some of the photos from his crazy-expensive "artists and prostitutes" book are included here. I'd say the photos are split 50/50 between celebrity portraits and general artistic portraits. And, like his previous works, sexual overtones abound.

This is a large book that is substantially longer than his previous books (Lachapelle Land and Hotel Lachapelle). I am quite happy with this book. It showcases the style that has made David Lachapelle my favorite photographer.

5.0 out of 5 stars Very Interesting Photo Book, February 10, 2009

By	Simpson Fan "Sarah" (Sarah) - See all my reviews

I loved the outrages photo's and celebrities. It is shocking and very interesting and I want to see the other collects.

5.0 out of 5 stars Much Too Much to Absorb At One Sitting, September 8, 2008

By	James R. Holland "Author of Adventure Photogr... (Boston, MA) - See all my reviews (TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

Amazon Verified Purchase

We've all gone to an art museum and after about an hour of seeing one masterpiece after another, we've reached the saturation point and can really not properly absorb seeing any more art no how matter how great it is. This boxed, coffee table book of color photographs had the same effect on me as becoming saturated in an unfamiliar museum. This Taschen printed volume differs from his earlier "David LaChapelle" catalogue in that it is 11 1/4 by 14 1/4 inch format and it's possible to really study the photographs. Most of these images are slick, surreal, erotic fantasy images. There are a few relatively straight portraits of major celebrities. The Portrait of a self-satisfied looking Hillary Clinton standing behind her almost empty, spotless office desk is one of those relatively straight-forward portraits. The photo is titled "Hillary Clinton, Century 21, 2001." Thanks to the large format double-page spread the reader is able to notice a lonely red apple sitting on the desk like it was just left by a admiring student. Unfortunately the apple is rotten and one can almost see the worm crawling out from the large black hole in the side of the fruit. Was this portrait some kind of future omen?
The book has many series such as the "Scarface Series", the "Taxi Driver Series", "What Will You Wear When You're Dead? Series", "Jesus Series" and the "Drunken American Series." There are several pictures that weren't necessarily part of a particular series, but were the same locations and sets used in several different series. One fire ravaged bedroom was the set for a portrait of Pink and titled "We Used to Have Fun, 2002." The same set minus Pink, was titled "Tina Used to Be So Much Fun, 2000." In a previous book the same photo had the title "Mama Smoked A Crack Pipe and Wore Fancy Shoes, Los Angeles, 2000." There is nothing wrong with using different titles for the same pictures in a different use, but it is interesting to see. Changing the title can change the entire meaning of the photograph. Another example of the same photo with a different title is the one called "Pamela Anderson & Tommy Lee Pose Naked with Sharon Gault's Family, 1999." In "David LaChapelle" that same scene is titled, "Tommy Lee and Family, Los Angeles, 1999."
This is such a wonderful book it's really impossible to do it justice. This one is more erotic and kinky than some of the photographer's earlier work, but even the nudes are so slick and plastic looking that they don't have much sex appeal. That's hard to imagine with so many photographs of Pamela Anderson, Lil' Kim, Angelina Jolie, and some of LaChapelle's other favorite drop-deal beautiful models and celebrities. Separating the various series are outstanding and far-out fanciful portraits of other celebrities including David Bowie, Sylvester Stallone, Philip Johnson, Robert Downey Jr., Muhammad Ali, Justin Timberlake, Jeff Koons, Alicia Keys, Elton John, Jocelyn Wildenstein, Toby Maguire, and Jude Law among others.
Naturally the book contains plenty of LaChapelle's visual puns, parodies, far-side humor and satire. This is an amazing buffet of colorful visual delights. For some reason, it reminds me of looking at those wax or plastic models of meals or services that are so much a part of Japanese merchandising. That's not a criticism,
just an observation. I very much enjoyed this collection of LaChapelle's concepts and finished pictures.