You may think you know all about “Jesus is My Homeboy”.You’ve seen the image on t-shirts, hats, and badges. It is the iconic design worn by celebrities too numerous to mention. You might be wearing a “Jesus is My Homeboy" shirt right now. It doesn’t matter. Unless you have already read this story and are reading it again from the beginning because it’s so amazing, you know almost NOTHING about “Jesus is My Homeboy”. What’s the answer? “Well, I haven’t achieved enlightenment,” he laughs. “But I guess it’s balance. We have to get ourselves in alignment.” Does he not miss some of the whirlwind of those earlier chaotic days, the adrenaline? He nods a no. “You know Epictetus, the Greek philosopher? He’s like, we all have a role in life – play your role and live it to the fullest.”

Jesus is My Homeboy” is way more than just an image.It is an epiphany. A revelation. It was not developed by a big fashion entity focused solely on making money. It was not created to cash in on a trend. “Jesus is My Homeboy” was born from a challenge that led to salvation; an inspiration fueled by a real life situation. It is, in part, a consequence of having to fine-tune his mental health constantly, and the death of his mother (who, he used to say, first taught him photography) a couple of years ago; LaChapelle is bipolar, but antidepressants do not work for him and he needs to monitor his exercise and sleep to stop himself from slipping into an episode. “You want to ride the part that feels so good because your brain is working fast and ideas come more easily. You have more energy and everything flows, and you’re seeing things from a higher perspective,” he explains. A heavy “but” follows. One moment in a man’s life. One connection made between two men. One message heard around the world. jesusismyhomeboy worn by icon #pamelaanderson , just because your a celebrity doesn't mean you dont have good taste. Van Zan Frater was a young Texan, recently relocated to Los Angeles. It was the 1980s, a time of great financial opportunity, and he was ready to make his place in the world. He was becoming familiar with the area, but didn’t know it well yet, so he pulled into the stark, unadorned parking lot of a run-down looking liquor store in South Central LA to use a pay phone. His guard was down when it should have been up. Way up.

I was freaked out. All I could see was blood forming underneath his head on the concrete. I immediately left the scene, aware that my out-of-state plates that read “VAN ZAN” were an easy tell if anyone had seen what had happened.

Regarding to the bible the wine represents Gods promise in blood poured out in a humankind sin. It means that we have to self-examine ourselves and participate in body of Christ but instead the subjects are drinking beer and eating burgers and that is what the world came too. Therefore our interpretation shows that Jesus spent time with people from the street, hustlers because he feels comfortable and empathised with. The Bible interpretation of the Last Supper was considered blasphemous but is when Jesus actually pulled his believe for the people of the street. In a way that is why they are wearing modern clothes and they are in modern settings because this is the scenery would look like if we could get a second coming. Overall the majority were a shady characters as are we at best but many people do not notice that he tells this stories after when ”good people” were questioning him. They are surprised that how he could spend time with this characters and dine with them. In short maybe that is the place where he found open hearts and room to rest. Jesus is giving to poor understands them help them he says we all should be the same the more we give the more satisfaction from life we receive. By purchasing the original prints and other products, you are helpingVan Zan to keep the “Jesus Is My Homeboy” Movement alive. He said, “Jesus is MY homeboy. And he’s your homeboy, and your homeboy,” and he pointed at random faces above him and he continued, “and your homeboy. Jesus is my homeboy and he is all of yours too. He is your homeboy.”David LaChapelle’s Jesus is My Home Boy series reinterprets traditional religious scenes in contemporary settings. David LaChapelle’s preference for transcendent themes, such as the divine presence in everyday matters or the inevitable moment of our death, is well represented in When we did, my lawyer said, “Van Zan, tell them your story,” which I proceeded to do. Then my wife went off. She was like, “How dare y’all take his stuff and make it your own? He has nightmares about this.” When she finally got out of breath and couldn’t talk anymore, I said, “I wanna thank you for what you’ve done, ‘cause it doesn’t matter to me how Jesus’ name gets out. What matters is that it got out, and you guys took it to places I couldn’t. So you guys are the messengers — just like everybody who wears the T-shirt — but it saved my life.” Soon after, we signed a deal. I felt real bad after it happened — what I was forced to do. But after I talked to those detectives, I thought, Wow, was I put there for a purpose? Someone wrote a comment online when I moved to Maui, like: ‘The person who gave us Paris Hilton and destroyed our culture is now gonna go live in the jungle.’ Did I really bring culture down?!” Well, didn’t he fetishise some of the dumber aspects of it? He stood down, and one by one the rest of the crowd stood down as well until Van Zan understood that if he stood up and walked away, he would not be beaten down again.

At age 17, LaChapelle moved to New York City. Following his first photography show at Gallery 303, he was hired by Andy Warhol to work at Interview Magazine. I had a friend named Vondell Jones who was a journalist. We would sit around smoking weed and see more and more innocent victims of gang violence on the nightly news. I was like, “We should put ‘Jesus is my homeboy’ on a T-shirt, sell it and use some of the money to help innocent victims of gang violence.” He agreed. After that near-death experience, Frater designed the now-iconic “Jesus is my Homeboy” image. The man with the upturned palms and the gentle face is a Jesus without race or creed, he said. He’s a person you can count on to stand with you, no matter the situation. Frater had the image printed onto T-shirts, which he sold in a local park. It even became the official image of the peace conferences held for gangs in the late 1980s.

Like many of the great masters, LaChapelle has been inspired by the classic nativity scene. While the artwork of Western religious narratives often glorified the church and portrayed Jesus in a more European mien, LaChapelle reimagines that tradition in this image, set in Africa. I remembered when I was a boy, me and my brothers and a couple of my friends in Texas would go hunting with our fathers. They’d build a fire, and we’d sit around and the old men would tell stories. Around one of those campfires, my dad once told me, “Never let a man tie you up, ‘cause he can do anything to you once he ties you up. And if he got a gun on you, make him kill you before he ties you up.” The covers of LaChapelle’s new books, Lost + Found Part I and Good News Part II. Photograph: Taschen