Dream Weaver

Hi readers,

How about a little escapism this week? Just a hunch, but I feel like we all deserve it. So here's how I'm going to kick things off for you: a profile that I just wrote of super-photographer, David LaChapelle, which wound up being the cover for this month's Aventura Magazine. I have a bit of a complex because sometimes when I write for glossies, I feel like the photography is so divine that no one reads a damn word a write. One example: this profile I wrote of MUTHA skincare founder Hope Smith. I mean, please.

In this case, the subject, LaChapelle, not only talked about his incredible career, and worked with us to assemble an amazing photo retrospective, but he offered up the above bespoke cover of himself to accompany the story. It's everything you might expect from a LaChapelle shot – lush, colorful, sexy – and I hope I can get my hands on a copy of this issue before South Floridians gobble them all up. In the meantime, here's the top of the feature I wrote, and a link into the rest of it.

I hope you enjoy it. In the meantime, hit reply and let me know how you're doing and how you're being escapist as we wind down the end of this unbelievably whack year.

Big hug from me,

Paige

Pop Life with David LaChapelle

There was something about Fort Lauderdale in the late 1970s, photographer David LaChapelle recalls. His older sister was there, living the SoFlo life. When he’d visit her, he’d look around and see disco, airbrushing, palm trees, and so much optimism. There was a sexiness to it, he says, and a colorful excitement that still informs his aesthetic  to this day.

For LaChapelle, there was a growing sense that South Florida was the place to be. Fast-forward a decade, and Andy Warhol sent LaChapelle, whom he had recently hired as a photographer for Interview magazine, to cover what he predicted was a growing art scene in Miami.

“It was for the Miami issue with Don Johnson on the cover,” LaChapelle says. “Andy had this sense that something was percolating in Miami, so he sent me down to take 20 to 30 pages of photos of this art scene. I stayed in the Fontainebleau for a little while, then I wanted to stay longer, so I moved to South Beach and got a room for $11 with a kitchen. It was winter, and I thought, ‘Oh this is insane.’ Andy was right. You could really feel that this place was really going to take off.”

Some 40 years later, Miami’s art scene has not only taken off but evolved into one of the world’s most influential hubs for painters, sculptors, collectors, and the like. And LaChapelle, who has made a name for himself shooting painterly—and occasionally provocative—pictures of celebrities like Megan Thee Stallion, Eminem, Naomi Campbell, and more, has now found an ideal headquarters for his global exhibitions and fine art sales in Aventura.

“The art scene here is just the right size, where it’s really vital and international, yet it’s smaller,” he says. “People know each other, which is really cool.”

There’s never a dull visual in LaChapelle’s world—or a dull moment. Earlier this year, Visu Contemporary presented a new survey of his work called “David LaChapelle: Happy Together,” his first-ever solo exhibition in Miami Beach. More shows at galleries across the world are in the works. Plus, there are the star-studded shoots, including music videos for Elton John, Brandi Carlile, and Charli XCX, to name a few. LaChapelle was also involved in planning an extravaganza involving the French synchronized swimming team for Christian Louboutin’s fall show.

To read the rest of my story, which includes an extensive photo essay you're really going to want to see and a conversation about the soul, sexiness and so much more, please click here.

Writing prompt: When was the last time you had a dream? What happened in it from start to finish, and would you categorize what transpired as good or bad?When you woke up, how did you feel, and what do you recall thinking about your reverie? Do you think it had some sort of larger significance in your life, or do you not put any stock in that sort of thing? If you think dream analysis is hocus pocus nonsense, why is that? Or, has there ever been a time when a dream you've experienced has come true?

A Rare Little Prince, Indeed

Antoine de Saint-Exupery's The Little Prince is one of the most translated books ever published, and a rare typescript copy could be yours for $1.25 million. The story is about small boy – The Little Prince – who travels the universe in search of wisdom. Though it is styled as a children's book, I have to confess there are times when I still look at my own old copy, which I cherish to this day.

The early typewritten manuscript that will be for sale November 20-24 at the Abu Dhabi Art Festival is one of the three known copies to be in existence. One is at the Bibliotheque Nationale in Paris, and the other is at the Harry Ransom Center in Austin, Texas. It contains handwritten notes and sketches by the author. It also has evidence of stubbed out cigarettes on the cover, and the first appearance of one of the best known lines from the book: "It is only with the heart that one can see rightly; the essential is invisible to the eye."

Sammy Jay, senior literature specialist from the typescript's seller Peter Harrington Rare Books, said: "It's very exciting because the quest [for me] is always to find something more and more amazing...I don't know how I'm going to beat it."

Quote

Life is not easy for any of us. But what of that? We must have perseverance and above all confidence in ourselves. We must believe that we are gifted for something and that this thing must be attained.

– Marie Curie

Endnotes

What I'm reading: Had to put down Annihilation for a minute. I'll be coming back to it, mind you. Right now, I'm giving Peggy Orenstein's Unraveling: What I Learned About Life While Shearing Sheep, Dying Wool, And Making the World's Ugliest Sweater a go.

What I'm watching: The changing leaves. "Culinary Class Wars" on Netflix.

What I'm excited (and a bit nervous) about: One more Atlanta United match in Mercedes Benz Stadium Saturday night. Perhaps a permanent crown on my tooth on November 6, but who knows anymore? November 5.

Where I hope you'll donate this week: Habitat for Humanity is a nonprofit that helps families build and improve places they can call home. Right now they're helping communities that have been hit hard by hurricanes Helene and Milton. Please, if you can, consider donating to them so they can continue this very important – and long term – work.