When I first saw this assignment, I had in mind to grab a bunch of friends and take some pictures inspired by David LaChapelle, but due to camera malfunctions and busy exam schedules, I decided to start looking for another photographer who’s work reminded me of LaChapelle.
I was watching America’s Next Top Model, one of my guilty pleasures, and decided to google judge/photographer Nigel Barker. When I was going through his work, I realized a lot of his pictures reminded me of much tamer versions of David LaChapelle, and I decided I had found the other half for my virtual essay.
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| Nigel Barker source |
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| Nigel Barker source |
This is the first set of pictures that I found by Nigel Barker that reminded me of David LaChapelle. They’re from cycle 2 of America’s Next Top Model, where the girls participated in an “Adam and Eve” themed shoot and were covered in body paint instead of clothes. They reminded me of David LaChapelle's picture of Lady Gaga and Kanye West.
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| David LaChapelle source |
An obvious similarity between the two pictures is the jungle theme background. I think the lighting is also similar, since it seems to be focused on the female instead of the male. In both photos, my eye is drawn to the female first. In Nigel's photos, the male model is just a part of the background, and in LaChapelle's photo, I feel like Kanye West is more of a prop holding Lady Gaga, than as a focal point of the picture. A lot of the same colors are used in both photos, such as green, yellow and red.
The next similarity I saw was the similar way they direct the models to pose. In the pictures above, the female models are sitting or carried in the same pose. I found a picture by David LaChapelle of Alan Cumming and thought the pose was very similar to poses of models from the same shoot as above by Nigel Barker.
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| David LaChapelle source |
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| Nigel Barker source |
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| Nigel Barker source |
The next picture I found was of Britney Spears by David LaChapelle. It automatically reminded me of an episode of America's Next Top Model where the girls had to model on a beach with a bunch of people in the background and still remain the focus of the picture. I remembered Nigel Barker was the photographer for the shoot and found the pictures. Both pictures are similar because one frame tells a whole story, there's a lot going on in both photos but the model remains the focus.
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| David LaChapelle source |
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| Nigel Barker source |
The next set of similar pictures I found where of Alexander McQueen (David LaChapelle) and from cycles 11 and 14 of America's Next Top Model (Nigel Barker).
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| David LaChapelle source |
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| Nigel Barker source |
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| Nigel Barker source |
I think the photos are similar because of the lighting, they both have a dark feeling to them. The colors of the hot balloon of Nigel's photo remind me of the colors of the dress in LaChapelle's photo. The big flow-y dresses are also another similarity in the two photographs and are used to give the photo direction.
I think David LaChapelle and Nigel Barker have similar photography styles because they are both heavily involved in the process. It doesn't seem like any of the photos happen by chance, it seems like both photographers have a certain image in their minds that they are trying to capture.
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