Bookies

So the other day I spent a few hours in the library looking through photography books. I didn't have a plan of action really, I just picked out books that caught my attention either through the names or the cover of the book. I found a couple of artists that interested me but not as many as I had hoped. What I was hoping to find were other photographers similar to David LaChapelle, but I didn't have much success in that area.
I did however find a David LaChapelle book and it had some of my favorite pieces in there like : "Free Consultation Surgery Story" "Makeover Surgery Story" "Milk Maidens" and "April in Paris". His colors are always bright and exciting but it's paired with very strange subjects which makes them intriguing. I love the work that he does in the studio with sets. They always have a ton of weird stuff in them but it adds to the chaos and surrealness of the image.

The only other artist that caught my attention that was similar was Wang Qingsong. He is a Chinese artist that focuses on photography as well as oil painting. His work is mostly inspired by the rapid saturation of China by western influences. China is all about change and they want change very quickly. He says this is what gives him almost all of his inspiration. In his photographs he normally doesn't focus in on just one person, he uses a whole group. He places these groups in big sets, a lot of which seem very reminiscent of old paintings. What caught my attention about his work was that in a lot of his pieces he has that strangeness but with appealing colors and a lot of content behind each piece.

And I apologize for the layout. I can't figure out how to get it like I want it.