While I Was On My Honeymoon, I Captured The Darker Side Of The Glamorous Las Vegas

As a big fan of capturing street life, I didn’t want to go to Vegas to enjoy the big name shows and glitz but to see the dark reality of the “Haves and Have Nots.” There’s a desperation in everyone. The tourists wanting to strike it rich at the casinos, the hustlers making money off of them, and the destitute looking for scraps.

I hate the “obvious” pictures people can take in a city like Vegas, the easy shots, the selfies while getting drunk. I wanted to photograph what other people tried not to see, the person crying about a broken heart, the man yelling for his mother, the couple hugging and not sure of their next direction. I couldn’t waste an opportunity to be in a city and not document the forgotten and/or silent ones.

More info: kurtzfrausun.com

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Here's a little more about me. I was a painter for ten years of experimental, Alchemical canvas work and sculptures, then moved onto music where I composed 13 albums, including an opera. Eventually, I needed music videos, so I began shooting my own, which led to my first experimental movie for the music album of the same name, “Peacock,” which earned my first award for Best Actor from the London Film Awards.

Photography came soon after as a way to relax. I was born colorblind, eventually developing the ability to see color by the age of 10, but I fondly remember seeing the world that way. So I prefer to shoot in black and white, because even if the subject matter is disturbing or uncomfortable, I find it a meditation.

#2 This Man Was Standing Outside Hard Rock Desperate To Find His Mom… Rambling. Only Stopped When I Took His Photo

#3 This Person Was Crying About Their Broken Heart

My main fields of interest in photography are the “Gold Buddha’s Encased in Mud.” Finding the rare beauty in the filth. I’m also a student of Geometry and find angles with sharp lines calming, jetting forward and back. A subject in those seems like a flower growing through concrete. I also photograph protests and rallies. Being in the middle of the raw human emotion of anger and joy, is a powerful subject worth exploring visually.

I never go anywhere with my camera with a detailed plan. I have to feel my environment, study those around me, and watch for patterns that emerge, seeing what others miss and if they have artistic value.

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I was able to be with my best best friend, my wife, and laugh, relax. It was a much needed break that I won’t forget for a long time. And I was able to find that hidden beauty in the urine soaked streets. I actually stepped in vomit for one shot, the couple on the wall where she smoked a cigarette.

As I was walking down the Strip, a young woman was walking quickly by me crying, with a man right next to her. She said “I just want to leave this place.” He responded “but why?” There was a story there, something VERY significant. I couldn’t take a pic, they walked by too fast, but that hit me. What happened to her, what did she see, or hear? Eventually, Vegas devours you.

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Unfortunately, when I tried speaking with people, they thought I was a scammer. I had to take my pics quickly, otherwise, I was told numerous times, that if you agreed to get a photo, I would charge them. Some Vegas strip scam. Nobody believed me that I was just there as a tourist as well. So I could never get the real story.

Otherwise, except for the masks, it was your usual time in Vegas. Packed everywhere we went.

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#15 Across The Street… But A Different World

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