David LaChapelle is one of the most frequently published photographers, best known for his large-scale, hyper-clear photographs of celebrities and for his iconic music videos for musicians including Elton John, Jennifer Lopez, Blink 182, Amy Winehouse, Whitney Houston, and Moby. He curated an exhibition of 40 of his works for a retrospective of his photographs titled “All of a Sudden” for the William Benton Museum of Art that continues at the museum through Dec. 15.

LaChapelle was born in Hartford and grew up in Simsbury and Farmington. At age 17, he moved to New York City, where he was hired by Andy Warhol to work at Interview Magazine. His unconventional and often surreal portraits quickly earned him international interest.

LaChapelle merges contemporary photography with art history and references the work of Warhol and Georgia O’Keeffe as well as Renaissance and Baroque masters in many of his photographs. His work is part of the permanent collections of major museums in Germany, France, Italy, Netherlands, Spain, the United Kingdom, and the United States.

He is known for his mastery of color, unique composition, and imaginative narratives that began to expand the genre of photography. His staged tableau, portrait and still life works challenged devices of traditional photography. The New York Times predicted that “LaChapelle is certain to influence the work of a new generation.”

LaChapelle spoke with WHUS earlier this week about his photography and video creations and one of his upcoming projects on the Good Music show (Wednesday from 3 p.m. to 5:30 p.m.):