By Mikayla Whitmore

Distance means so many things to me today. Growing up in Las Vegas, I’ve had several family members who worked in casinos throughout the Strip and Downtown. I remember walking inside a near-empty theme park at the MGM Grand on Employee Appreciation Day before they dismantled it - marking the end of the family fun era of the Las Vegas Strip in the early 2000s. The facades and landmarks of home used as an endless backdrop in Hollywood portrayals and real-life moments alike.

The distance and isolation created by the start of the Covid-19 pandemic mixed with the temporary shutdown of the Las Vegas Strip and non-essential businesses created an atmosphere I had only envisioned in apocalyptic dreams mixed with a set of concerns and risks to continue my full-time job as a photojournalist and visual artist.

After setting up a personal decontamination and quarantine plan, I took socially distanced walks with my longtime friend and visual artist Krystal Ramirez to document the span of Las Vegas Boulevard and downtown, along with some solo sunset drives I took around my neighborhood on the east side.

Waiting for the pedestrian crosswalk near Park MGM on one of our early walks, I heard nothing. No cars driving, no beeping from the crosswalk signal, no over-poured tourists bickering in the background. The absence of sound was echoing and reminiscent of how I feel when alone in the desert.

That silence has been replaced by voices and citizens overflowing the streets in protests and vigils sparked by the death of George Floyd and countless others. United in a stance to continue to fight for Black Lives and against police brutality and the institutions that devalue us.

It is jarring to see the Las Vegas Strip and Downtown as backdrops to civil protests one night and then the next day documenting the Strip reopening. Evidence of past protests remain in plain sight for heat-stricken tourists to stumble upon: faded spray paint in front of Caesars Palace reads “GEORGE” next to a floor sign reading #VegasSmart, Stay 6ft Apart.

Casinos; giant monoliths partially open with tourists scurrying about and gargantuan marquees reading “Tan lines are the new face masks” are even more bazaar then when vacant. Walking back to my car after a day covering the reopenings, I hear chants in the distance. “No Justice, No Peace” I turned to see a small crowd of peaceful protestors in front of the Bellagio fountains, making its debut reopening performance earlier that morning. As I walk towards them to join, I notice a showgirl impersonator I befriended earlier in the night watching as the march passes on. Sometimes I am not sure what is happening in real life and what seems straight out of a movie.

In the same way, I teamed up with Krystal to document the vacancy of our hometown, I have teamed up with my longtime friend and visual artist Brent Holmes to document protests and vigils. All of us normally work alone, but the weight of the world which we are documenting has united us together for different causes out of trust, and respect to try and keep each other safe while documenting and living our lives. It’s not just about the moments I’m out photographing, but it’s also in the kindness and overwhelming support from friends, family, and other photojournalists and everyday community members alike uniting to look out and protect each other. So distance means a lot of things to me, the distance I’ve traveled taking photos over the past months, the distance I’ve felt trying to mend gaps with family grasping to different political views or the comfort of walking alongside friends to bridge the distance to whatever the future holds.

Mikayla Whitmore is a queer visual artist and photojournalist in Las Vegas. Whitmore has exhibited work at the Marjorie Barrick Museum of Art, Nevada, David B. Smith Gallery, Colorado, P3 Studio, Nevada, and Humble Arts Foundation. Her editorial clients include ESPN, Vox Media, Wall Street Journal, Huck Magazine, and The Guardian.

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Walking 6ft Apart