Excerpt from the introduction, by David LaChapelle:

I am presenting a selection of pictures that best portrays the consistent themes I have been exploring throughout my life. From some of my earliest works that were made for and exhibited in galleries in New York’s East Village during the 1980’s, through the magazine years, having used popular celebrity and fashion publications to reach a wide audience, make conceptually challenging photos and question the very social structures from which they came to be. Culminating in 2006 with a retreat from the “world,” a re-evaluation of my life took place in a cabin in the rainforest where I lived and continue to call my home. This contemplative introspection allowed a new chapter to unfold, helping create a sustainable farm on an island in the tropics and re-emergence, somewhat awakened, to be free to examine my life in new depth. By exploring the paradox that my life appears to be, I find the threads that bind it together.