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FIF: David LaChapelle

He was the mastermind behind Christina Aguilera's "Dirrty" music video...

Guys, we’ve done it - it’s Friday. Not only is this the BEST day of the week but we at MTV Breaks also have a treat in store for you… it’s time for F**K IT FRIDAY – our weekly feature where we celebrate the most excellent people who’ve said “f**k it!” (probably) and taken a leap of faith to do just whatever the f**k they want to in life.

Cos half the battle is 100% pursuing your crazy ambitions, right?

So who’s up next in the FIF roll call of honour? Drumroll… it’s DAVID LACHAPELLE!

David LaChapelle is one of the pioneering photographers of our time. After showcasing his experimental photography his work was spotted by Andy Warhol and given a job at Interview magazine. He went on to become a go-to name for directing the music videos of stars like Christina Aguilera, and his work became well known in both the music and fashion industries. He uses a lot of surrealism to create his outlandish photographs and he’s done portraits for the likes of Lady Gaga, Britney Spears, Michael Jackson, Kanye West, Whitney Houston, David Beckham… the list goes on. When he photographed transgender Amanda Lepore he made her famous.

But why is David our FIF man of the week? On Valentine’s Day this year, Diesel released their campaign Make Love Not Walls, and guess who directed the video?

Yep, David said “f**k it!” (probably) and got political, directing a video that made clear references to the wall that the President promised to build between the US and Mexico. In the video, a man is over one side of the wall trying to communicate with a group of people on the other side, who then decide to break through. When they do manage to get through the wall, there are explosions of colour and people of all different ethnicities embracing and celebrating as one. It was a statement by Diesel that they are against hate and preach love and togetherness.

In a VICE interview David LaChapelle described his career as an “unplanned journey” but there are certain things he’s always had in mind. “Especially when my friends starting dying of AIDS and things like that, I wanted to do pictures that were uplifting,” he explained. “I never thought I was going to make money… honestly, it was more about what can I give, rather than what am I going to get out of it.”

YAAS David. David’s our FIF inspiration this week, as instead of trying to fit in with other photographers and letting himself be dictated to, he constantly produced work that he himself felt was beautiful and uplifting. He made it as a photographer by staying true to his values (getting political at times), and striving to always give more than he got.

HAPPY FRIDAY EVERYONE!

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