Las Vegas Portraits
The Las Vegas Portraits project was completed in the spring of 2012 and it was the last project I have done in a while. Life just became very busy when I began researching and writing my masters’ thesis and, later on, began my doctoral studies. I hope to engage in amateur photographic projects again very soon.
Scroll down to view the images and learn more about the project.
To see more images that I have done over the years, along with some other work, visit my FLICKR
Las Vegas Portraits is a visual exposé of a city that is often associated solely with the lifestyle of the rich and famous. The goal of the exhibit however, is to show the audience a side of Las Vegas that is mostly seen by the people who live there. It is an honest effort to provide a visual record of a strikingly different reality, a reality that is far from mass produced images seen in mainstream media. My hope is to truthfully depict the city from the perspective of someone who experiences it beyond the bright lights, roulette tables, showgirls and noisy bars.
In order to enhance the documentary feel to my work I chose to use black and white photography in order to “strip” the city from the burden of its overwhelming color explosions that are often seen in the typical Las Vegas photographs.
The images were taken throughout the Las Vegas valley area; some parts are well-known, others are not, but they all represent the many “faces” of the city. The image titles are based on pure observation. The subjects in the photos were not formally interviewed, questioned or even asked permission to be photographed. They simply represent and are the little moments that often go unnoticed…
Artistic Statement
Although photography wasn’t always a big part of my life, I began recognizing the power of this medium during the nine years of my travels around the world while working on board cruise ships.
Back in those days, the equipment was minimal, but the purpose was big – I wanted to develop a visual diary of my life, to have a record of my experiences, to be able to go back in time and “visit” the places and people that changed my life. And this is precisely what photography is to me – a visual record of life and emotion in a given moment in time.
I realized I had a true passion for photography when I began recognizing objects, people and sites beyond the typical tourist attractions, but I didn’t pursue it more seriously until I enrolled in college. The more I learned about the process of photographing and developing visual stories, the more I appreciated the importance and meaningfulness of images for others; it wasn’t just about me anymore.
During my college years I took on different projects – some for personal reasons, others as part of classes and some even related to my job at the time. While I worked on a variety of photographs – from landscapes and ads to portraits and documentaries, I realized that I had a true passion for documenting people in their natural setting, I wanted to be out on the streets and to grab a hold of those little and often unseen moments in space and time.
Although photographing people could be a difficult task, especially for a shy and quiet person like me, I believe there is something very powerful about capturing a moment in the day of someone’s life and sharing it with the world. It gives a depth to the meaning of life, it can change perceptions and understanding of people, it can evoke strong emotions and can even bring about change on both individual and societal levels.
