"Vegas and She": Phantasmagoric Striptease World

EVERY DAY PHOTOGRAPHERS AROUND THE WORLD looking for new ways to tell stories or to capture what we previously did not notice. We choose interesting photo projects and ask their authors what they wanted to say. This week we are publishing the project of the Viennese photographer Stephanie Moshammer "Vegas and She", in which she explored the mythical and ghostly world of striptease in Las Vegas, which is usually not shown. Soon, these pictures will be released as a photo album of the same name, as well as a limited series with a signed author's print, which can be bought in Europe and the States or ordered by writing to the publisher directly.

I started as a graphic designer. My training course also included photography classes, which were taught by a very good teacher. He opened up a whole new world for me. For a long time I was not completely sure about what I wanted to dedicate my life to, and I began to take my pictures seriously only two years ago. As a result, both disciplines influenced me and seemed to complement each other: I know how to impose a book or website, and I can edit the photos. "Vegas and She" is my first long-running project. I spent a week in Vegas, and this short trip left me with a strong desire to return and explore the city better. Later I did. I am a terribly inquisitive person, and I didn’t have enough weeks in Vegas to satisfy my curiosity. I wanted to know what lies behind this surrealistic dream of a fictional city. A place that is almost entirely made up of illusions, fantasies and desires. Even more interesting is how the city affects those who stay in it for a long time.

In the project "Vegas and She" I tried using images to create an ambiguous, ambiguous space that would lead us away from reality and was somewhere on the verge between illusion and desire. In this fictional world of protagonist - a striptease dancer, the force that drives Vegas, the hidden power that sustains life in a demonstratively external. I use both people and the environment to create a certain narrative and model some reality. To do this, I seek out strangeness, gaps in reality and play with them. This series of shots creates a sharp contrast with how such places are usually represented - pretentious and glamorous. The project has wild and raw energy, but at the same time it is poetic and dreamy - this is a kind of bitter sweetness translated into the language of photography. In my work with strippers, it seems to me, the fact that I myself am a woman helped a lot. They had respect for me and my work, frankly talked about their lives and their past. I was particularly helped by one of the dancers, Shannon, with whom we had a great singing. I was introduced to her by one of my friends - we met, I told her about my intention, showed my pictures. She liked me, and she agreed. It was she who was my conductor to this world, having introduced to other girls. None of them were embarrassed that I was shooting them. My task was to portray them in a metaphorical and poetic way in order to convey the mood and atmosphere of the world in which they live. I was fascinated by their way of life, the way they perceive themselves, and the way the world of Vegas affects them.

Before we shoot every girl, we always talked. I was interested to learn more about their inner world, their identity and destiny. For example, Tianiya, a 21-year-old girl from Minneapolis, began dancing at 19. In the US, you can buy alcohol only from 21 years old, so girls up to this age can only work in clubs that do not serve alcohol. Now Tiania is 21 and she moved to the club, where topless perform. “Never tell your club visitors your real name,” Tiania told me. Therefore, girls take their stage pseudonyms, Tianiya herself calls herself Tony. "I just got twins," as she called her new bosom, which she did a couple of weeks ago. Tianii could not wait to finally show her chest, because for the last two weeks she had not worked - she was recovering after the operation. I met Tiania during her first visit to Vegas, where she arrived at the weekend. It was a good time to earn some extra money: people from all over the world came here for the weekend to watch an important boxing match.

The other girl I met is Erika. She has a son, but he lives separately, because Erica believes that her lifestyle is not suitable for a child. Erika was beaten by a boyfriend, so much so that everything ended in fractures and surgery, and she had a scar on her neck. She said that she had met with many clients from the club: "There were even rock stars among them." When we first met, she had the strongest swelling on her lips after surgery to increase them.

There was also Ray. She was 23, and she moved to Las Vegas with her grandparents, who wanted to spend the rest of their lives here. When they died, Ray was left completely alone and decided not to leave the city. She began to dance in order to somehow earn a living and study. She worked at Starbucks during the day and at night at clubs. Ray told me that she sometimes worked in an escort. Shannon began by settling down as a waitress at a strip club. Later, the chief offered her the position of a dancer, which allows you to earn much more. Since Shannon first appeared on the scene, she continues to do it. Then she was 19, now - 36.

Strippers and strippers are not full-time employees of stip clubs - they work under a contract and are considered social entrepreneurs. This means that every day and night they need to make a cash contribution in order to perform - about $ 50. They are left with all the proceeds earned by their own body, minus the interest to DJs, bartenders and other employees of the club with whom they are associated.

This project for me is a cross between documentary and artistic photography. What often annoys me in classical documentary and photojournalism is that she usually tells and shows you what you already know. It justifies your expectations, and there is not much artistic depth in terms of art in it. On the other hand, in artistic photography, I often lack awareness. I do not like it when it comes down simply to aesthetics and "beautiful photos." In the project "Vegas and She" I wanted to combine these two approaches. I rather perceive myself as a narrator and always look for the best visual way to convey my view of the subject. In the end, it is always a reflection of reality and myself.

The letter that I included in the project, I just once found in the mailbox. The envelope read "A girl from Austria," and the address where I lived in Vegas was indicated. In fact, once this guy rang the doorbell and we even talked for five minutes. A week later I received a letter from him. I don’t know if he pursued me or he was really looking for his ex-girlfriend at this address. His thoughts became for me a representation of all of Las Vegas and the project. In them - a mixture of everything, reality and fiction, charming and terrifying, the line between love and suffering, this is a teaser of all the wild and strange that is in this city. I included this letter in the project because it is part of my vegas experience. In the project "Vegas and She", she is me.