David LaChapelle

“I like thinking about the fragility of the human flesh and our bodies - our decay and eventual death.”

“There's nothing that symbolizes loss or grief more than a mother losing a child.”

“I was always painting when I was a kid. But then when I handled a camera when I was 17, that was it for me. I loved photography. I would work 4 or 5 hours a day. It was like a calling.”

“You work with people who are obsessive about shopping, obsessive about owning things and buying things, like this purchase is going to make them happy. And you want to say to them, 'You know, no amount of real estate is gonna fill that void.'”

“I like the Eiffel Tower in Las Vegas more than the actual one.”

“I've never wanted to be part of an inner circle of any scene. I've always been an outsider looking to question and subvert.”

“My mum was one of those people who really wasn't allowed to be an artist, because she worked in a factory and she came from the war and all that stuff. She really has an artist's soul.”

“We use fashion for status and to beautify and there's nothing wrong with that, but when it becomes completely unbalanced, then you're living a decadent life. And when that happens on a global scale, you're living in a decadent world.”

“The tools I learned photographing celebrities, now I want to use them to sell ideas.”

“My mother taught me a lot about respect for all living things - for plants and animals. I am a vegetarian. I was brought up that way.”

“With mania, is it dangerous to ride that euphoric feeling. You feel very animated and creative; I would fill journals with drawings. It feels good and you want it to last, but it can lead to being delusional. The delusions can be as real as you thinking you can fly.”

“Success to me is being a good person, treating people well.”

“I went to art high school and thought I'd be a painter. Unfortunately I didn't finish high school, but that's always been part of my work.”

“In the fashion world, I was always an outsider, but I made people look good, so I had a career.”

“I moved to New York when I was 15, but my parents lived nearby in Connecticut, so I could go be in this incredible countryside when I needed it.”

“I love fashion, beauty, glamour. It's the mark of civilisation.”

“People get devalued in Hollywood when they age, despite all their efforts to stay relevant and beautiful and young. They can't get jobs anymore.”

“I'm a photographer, period. I love photography, the immediacy of it. I like the craft, the idea of saying 'I'm a photographer.'”

“I would rather die than be a serious artist, or a fake artist.”

“I never want people to be repulsed with my pictures; I always want to attract people.”