LAS VEGAS

There is a visual complexity in the series Las Vegas that is not inherent in most of the subjects I shoot. My work is often structured by isolating a subject against a neutral or unrelated background but in Las Vegas, this is impossible – the cacophony of visual stimulation is unavoidable. So to make these images palatable to my sensibility I originally shot in black and white and recorded only unpopulated scenes and occurrences.

One guiding aspect of my work in Las Vegas is the desire to view the city as if it had recently been evacuated, the inhabitants leaving behind only empty shells of the their mad creations. For example, in the photographs of the Excalibur and Luxor casinos, the absence of color and people gives the imagery a somewhat menacing quality, which, given that we are looking at entities designed to fleece you of your money, seems somehow appropriate. Also, when I photograph exteriors in Las Vegas I think of the unsustainable aspect of life in the desert and how all would turn to dust if the water was turned off; how lifeless and desperate it would all be with the flip of a switch.