Las Vegas, USA

Behind the glitz and glamor of the Strip, Las Vegas is a real city with real people. Kids graduate from high school. Women sleep on the street. People die. Soldiers come home. Sometimes Las Vegas looks like any other town in America. Here's a smattering of news and feature work that has occupied my days the first half of this year. It's the regular newspaper stuff, and a reminder that it's not just Strippers and Elvis impersonators in this town.

Broken Chains Christmas

This was a typical Christmas Day assignment: Christian charity feeds the homeless and hearts are warmed everywhere. I expected a couple dozen hungry homeless people and a few volunteers spooning cranberry sauce and gravy onto dry turkey breast. When I arrived to the parking lot of the Harley Davidson on Eastern and Sahara around 9 in morning, I was overcome by the sight of hundreds and hundreds of people. The Broken Chains nonprofit was started by a man named Pastor Cody who was a homeless drug addict (and not a pastor) nine years ago. Eight years ago he fed a dozen homeless people in a park on Christmas Day. This year he fed more than 1,000. It was quite a sight to see, and my heart was indeed warmed just a bit.

The New Homeless

These are the faces of the new homeless. Families who once had it all, and because of circumstance, the economy, the foreclosure crisis and bad luck, lost it all in a blink of the eye. We do a lot of stories like this in the media business, especially lately in Nevada. But I never tire of hearing these tales. I shot portraits of three amazing families for this week's cover story by Ken Miller for Las Vegas Weekly. These families have come through dark times together and have made it through to other side. Meeting people like this, who band together in rough times and become stronger, is always an inspiration to me. I know it sounds cheesy, but they have made me appreciate what I have now because it could easily be gone.

(Cover and feature design by the always awesome Ryan Olbrysh)

The Iranians

This is story about two Iranian refugees. Both fought in the Iran/Iraq war, both have lost family to the Islamic regime in Iran, and both have struggled immensely. This is also a story about kindness, loyalty and friendship in a city where it's hard to find. One man is homeless, and the other is not. I've been working on this story for a while. Please check out Las Vegas Weekly for Tim Pratt's accompanying article.