American photographer David LaChapelle has had his fill of stars and glamour. Shunning superficial beauty, he has now turned his focus on presenting gritty reality.

For more than 20 years he has been shooting beautiful, young, sexy superstars for magazines like Vogue. His candy-coloured settings made him into a photo artist idolised the world over; but now he has hung up his celebrity portfolio. In an exclusive interview with THE MINI INTERNATIONAL, LaChapelle states: "The superficial side of life increasingly leaves me cold. I much prefer dealing with fundamental issues like economic crises, flooding disasters or the ever-widening gap between rich and poor." But his new, serious messages also come wrapped in a glamorous package: "Serious, political art doesn’t have to be ugly." LaChapelle is well aware of the effect that beauty has. He knows he was successful "because everybody in my photos looked good". Now he is channelling his talents into helping a good cause: "I use the visual language of popular culture to reach as many people as possible." One of LaChapelle’s themes is, for example, gold mining in Africa and the social and environmental damage that comes with it. Another subject is rising sea levels. For, as he says, "There’s nothing more boring than a photo of a beautiful model in a beautiful bikini on a beautiful beach."