Las Vegas is an iconic international city, a glowing neon oasis sprouting from the Nevada desert. It symbolises the extreme end of western capitalism and libertarian values, an adult playground to cater for every vice. Roughly 150,000 people pass through its airport every day, drawn to its 24 hour culture of gaming, entertainment and hospitality. But whilst the bright lights twinkle with all American promise, the city equally houses many darker shades. Las Vegas is currently ranked 9th most dangerous city in America coupled with the highest number of foreclosures and a correlating suicide rate. Since the recession hit in 2008 the state of Nevada has also carried the unenviable crown for highest unemployment rate in the nation. These figures are not printed on flyers distributed on The Strip; the characters in this great city are the ones who tell the true story.
Mayor, Carolyn Goodman, claims flamboyantly, whilst sat in her office with its panoramic city views, that Las Vegas is “The best”. But would this be a view shared by the unlucky ones who make their homes in the storm drains and tunnels that run down into the depths of the metropolis? They offer their own narrative. And between these two extremes there are numerous varying perspectives. From the coroner’s experience with suicides to a Show Girls life in the entertainment industry, and the newly weds take on Las Vegas. From these individual stories a picture emerges of a complex and multilayered city with many facades.
Photographers Adam Patterson and Greg Funnell collaborated on this project in an attempt to investigate the city’s multiple conflicting narratives; interviewing and photographing the people who actually live in the desert metropolis. One question was asked throughout ‘What is Las Vegas to you?’ Working as one this approach has resulted in a body of photographic works and interviews that, using Las Vegas as a microcosm for the wider picture, explores the heart of this year’s upcoming presidential debate. Is the American Dream still valid or has a widening sense of national fear permanently crippled patriotic pride?
With many Americans disillusioned and facing increasing financial despair Las Vegas seems the perfect place to question the plausibility of the notion of the great American dream. Does America still dare to hope?
