Performing in the Dark: The Sudden Disappearance of Live Entertainment
Las Vegas' cultural identity and economic wellbeing is undeniably linked to the performers and stage staff who once spent their days and nights dazzling tourists in intimate performances and big-money productions alike. Performing in the Dark is a photojournalism, multi-media exhibition that highlights the sudden disappearance of live entertainment in the Entertainment Capital of the World. This photojournalism exhibition captures visions of Las Vegas caught in pandemic.
Through the lenses of Nevada’s visual journalists, this exhibition spotlights local performers who have found themselves stranded from the stage, and forced to find new ways to get by amid the unrelenting pandemic. Photojournalists featured in this exhibition include: Rachel Aston, Benjamin Hager, Ellen Schmidt, and Chase Stevens from the Las Vegas Review-Journal; Christopher DeVargas, Steve Marcus, and Wade Vandervort from Greenspun Media Group publications; and freelance/local photojournalists Bridget Bennett, Ronda Churchill, Mikayla Whitmore, Aaron Mayes, and exhibition curator Miranda Alam.
Live performance is fundamental to Las Vegas. Then the coronavirus pandemic shut down every stage including theatre behemoth Cirque Du Solei. As casinos slowly open but these shows remain closed, what will happen for the professional performers who have worked years, some decades, to perfect their skill? What is Las Vegas without live shows?
Rachel Aston is a filmmaker and photographer at the Las Vegas Review-Journal where she focuses on short documentaries and telling stories off the Strip. For her, film is a tool of connection, a way to revere the struggles and achievements of people while creatively untangling the human experience. @Rookie__Rae
Miranda Alam is a freelance photographer and photo editor based in Las Vegas. She moved to Las Vegas from the Bay Area in 2012 with every intention of becoming a pastry chef, but made an unexpected pivot into journalism and photography, graduating in May 2016 from the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, with a degree in Journalism and a minor in Integrated Marketing Communications. She has worked on a variety of assignments for publications such as The San Francisco Chronicle, HuffPost, Reuters, Las Vegas Weekly, and Las Vegas Sun. Her clients have included NASCAR, the NBA and WNBA, Polo America, Mountain West Conference, Las Vegas Lights FC, and the Las Vegas News Bureau.Miranda is also a freelance photo editor for Getty Images, where she has worked on events including the Vanity Fair Oscar Party, the Netflix Golden Globes after-party, Billboard Awards, Life is Beautiful arts & music festival, iHeartradio Music Festival, Def Jam Grammy party, Island Records Pre-Grammy party, CES, Soul Train Awards, the Latin Grammy Awards, and the American Country Music Awards among others. @miranda_alam @miranda_alam
Bridget Bennett is a freelance photojournalist based in Las Vegas, Nevada. The majority of her work explores social and socio-economic issues in the Las Vegas valley. She is a frequent contributor to The New York Times and former staff photographer at the Las Vegas Review-Journal. @bridgetkbennett @bridgetkbennett
Ronda Churchill is a freelance photographer based in Las Vegas, Nevada, since 2004, and specializes in photojournalism. She works for a variety of national newspapers, wire services, and corporate clients. Churchill grew up in the suburbs of St. Louis, Missouri, and always had a passion for the arts, starting out as a concert pianist at a young age and eventually moving on to art and photography. In 2002, she graduated Cum Laude with a Bachelor of Fine Arts from Southern Illinois University, specializing in photojournalism and graphic design.
As a documentarian and outdoor enthusiast, Churchill enjoys working on photography projects centered upon Southern Nevada and the southwest paired with traveling and hiking to remote areas. With her, she carries film and digital cameras, a warm smile, and an open heart. She regularly maintains a photo-driven blog Making the Cut that can be viewed at: rondachurchillblog.com. @rondachurchill @rkchurchill
Christopher DeVargas has been shooting professionally for over 11 years. Born and raised in Las Vegas, he began studying photography after serving a four-year enlistment in the U.S. Army. Christopher enjoys photographing entertainers and has been fortunate to work with many talented performers in Las Vegas while working for the Las Vegas Weekly and Las Vegas Magazine. @devargas_photo @DeVargas_Photo
Benjamin Hager is a visual journalist for the Las Vegas Review-Journal. He graduated from San Francisco State University with a degree in photojournalism, and has worked as a staffer for the past 10 years at publications in Arizona, Texas, Florida and Utah, before arriving in Nevada. He took a two-year hiatus from journalism to tour with the Harlem Globetrotters as their director of photography, and managed the photo programs for the House of Blues, Texas Rangers and Dallas Stars. @benjaminhphoto @BenjaminHphoto
Steve Marcus is a staff photojournalist at the Las Vegas Sun (Greenspun Media Group). He sometimes works as a free-lance photographer contributing to Reuters, Getty Images, and the Associated Press.He has been taking photos in Las Vegas since 1993. Prior to coming to Las Vegas, Marcus worked for the Arizona Daily Sun in Flagstaff, Arizona. @steve.marcus @SMarcusPhoto1
Aaron Mayes has been a photographer in southern Nevada since the early 1990s starting at the Henderson Home News, then spending nine years at the Las Vegas Sun. Prior to working with the University of Nevada, Las Vegas (UNLV) Libraries Special Collections and Archives as the Curator of Visual Materials, Mayes photographed campus life, social events, athletics, and promotional images as part of UNLV Photo Services. Mayes is a fifth generation Nevadan born in Las Vegas, raised in Reno, and currently residing in Henderson. @aaronmayesphoto @AaronMayesPhoto
Ellen Schmidt (she/her) is a staff photojournalist at the Las Vegas Review-Journal in Las Vegas, Nevada. A born-and-raised Minnesotan, she has worked for Minnesota Public Radio News, the Star Tribune, the Duluth News Tribune, and the Minnesota Daily. Her work seeks to capture joy, visualize home, and record moments that help people relate to one another. @ellenschmidttt @ellenschmidttt
Chase Stevens is a staff photographer at the Las Vegas Review-Journal. He graduated from the University of Nevada, Las Vegas in 2014 with a Bachelor of Arts degree. in psychology and joined the staff of the Las Vegas Review-Journal. that year as well. His work has been recognized by Pictures of the Year International, the NPPA's Best of Photojournalism, and the Nevada Press Association. During his time in Las Vegas he has also worked on assignment for the Associated Press and USA Today, and he has produced work for clients such as Caesars Entertainment, the Hard Rock Hotel, Brooklyn Bowl, and Drai's Las Vegas. His work has been featured in Time, The New York Times, CNN, Rolling Stone, National Geographic Travel, The Wall Street Journal, and many more. @cchhaassee @CSStevensphoto
Wade Vandervort is an award-winning photojournalist and commercial photographer who received his Bachelor of Fine Arts degree at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas. During his college career he received the Peter Lik Scholarship for Excellence in Landscape Photography. As a full-time photographer for Greenspun Media Group, which publishes the Las Vegas Sun newspaper, the Las Vegas Weekly magazine, and Las Vegas Magazine, Wade has been fortunate enough to cover a wide range of subjects including local and international artists, fine dining experiences curated by master chefs, Nevada landscape conservation efforts, as well as historic moments like the COVID-19 pandemic and the George Floyd protests. @wadevandervort
Mikayla Whitmore (they/them/theirs/she) is a queer artist and photojournalist, working within realms of photography, sculpture, and installation. In conversation with landscape, they utilize concepts of space and existentialism to convey their observations with the romanticization of the West, queer experience, and the appreciation of the sublime in the often mundane. After obtaining their Bachelor of Fine Art in photography from the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, they have exhibited their work both internationally and throughout the United States. @mikaylawhitmore @mikaylawhitmor_
Thank you to the Las Vegas Review-Journal, Greenspun Media Group, their journalists for their support of this exhibition and in making it possible for us to share these stories from the greater Las Vegas community.