Vegas or bust

CA to NV // a session with cirque du soleil acrobats

By Lauren di Matteo

THE JOURNEY

Ever since I was scolded for stealing Jeff Dunaway’s stamps in second grade, I’ve been a rule follower—never speeding, never ditching, always polite, always playing nice. In some ways, I feel that has carried over into my creative personality. I am accustomed to playing it safe. I suppose, in a way, this trip is about breaking past the norm. It’s about pushing myself to overcome limits—approaching total strangers, reaching beyond my social circle and comfort zone, and confronting my creativity head on.

—

It was a four hour drive from Los Angeles to Las Vegas. We stopped about two hours into the car rideat a gas station on Razor Road—somewhere in the middle of the desert. The following four images are of two South Americans who were on a journey as well, only theirs started in Venezuela.

LAS VEGAS

We arrived in Vegas in the middle of the afternoon…in the dead of summer. Friends of friends had arranged for me to meet and photograph these two incredibly talented acrobats Chris and Antonio. Despite triple-digit temps, they were kind enough to venture out into the heat and cause some mischief—creating some of the best images from the trip.