He has said to have loved the public schools in Connecticut and thrived in their art program as a child and teenager, although he struggled with bullying growing up.

LaChapelle credits his mother for influencing his art direction in the way she set up scenes for family photos in his youth.

[4][9][13][14][15][16] LaChapelle's work has been called "meticulously created in a high-gloss, color-popping, hyper-realistic style", and his photos are known to, "crackle with subversive – or at least hilarious – ideas, rude energy and laughter.

It was staged at the peace celebration of World War II and became one of the first public advertisements showing a gay or lesbian couple kissing.

In a long article published by frieze in 1996, the advertisement was credited for its "overarching tone of heavy-handed humor and sarcasm".

[6][21][22][23] It is clear that LaChapelle's moving in this, "new direction highlights his interest and understanding of both contemporary practice and art history".

[24] LaChapelle's images "both bizarre and gorgeous have forged a singular style that is unique, original, and perfectly unmistakeable.

LaChapelle Land (1996) was selected as one of 101 "Seminal Photographic Books of the Twentieth Century" and is "highly valued by collectors".

[25][30][better source needed] By 2011, LaChapelle had an exhibition at the Lever House in New York[31] and retrospectives at the Museo Arte Contemporáneo de Puerto Rico,[32] the Hanagaram Design Museum in Seoul,[33] and Galerie Rudolfinum in Prague.

[34] In the following years, LaChapelle's works were also exhibited at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art in LA (2012),[35] the Musée d'Orsay in Paris (2013),[36] Fotografiska Museet in Sweden (2013)[37] and the National Portrait Gallery in Washington D.C.

[39] Other shows include OstLicht Galerie fur Fotografie in Vienna, Austria,[40] MAC Lima in Peru,[41] Palazzo delle Esposizioni in Rome,[42] and Museo de Arte Contemporáneo in Chile.

[43] In 2016, LaChapelle's work was shown at The Victoria and Albert Museum in London,[44] DSC Gallery in the Czech Republic,[45] at several venues in Montevideo in Uruguay[46] and at the Edward Hopper House in New York.

[22] A critic has noted that LaChapelle's work has been influenced by Salvador Dalí, Jeff Koons, Michelangelo, Cindy Sherman, and Andy Warhol.

[5] Richard Avedon noted that of all the photographers inventing surreal images, LaChapelle has the potential to be the genre's Magritte.

[51] While living in London, he married the female publicist of the UK popstar Marilyn; the marriage lasted a year.