NEVADA

Like most people, my ventures into Nevada have been confined to Las Vegas and its surroundings. I admit this is lame, photographically speaking, but I don't get out here much, and I prefer to stay indoors, quaff free 7 & 7s and play blackjack when the temperature is 185. Vegas has a surfeit of visual attractions, but they are, with few exceptions, monstrous, garish and appalling. If H.P. Lovecraft had been a marketing exec, he would have designed Vegas exactly like it is today.

Bally's Las Vegas, Las Vegas, NV, 1996 (76k)

At 4:00 AM on a Thursday morning in April, even Las Vegas is deserted. This escalator leads from the Strip to the hotel lobby. During this trip, I stayed at the Aladdin, which was razed a year later. They charged $29 per night and gave me coupons for a free dinner and breakfast.

Bally's Las Vegas, Las Vegas, NV, 1996 (75k)

The fountain adjacent to the escalator and the Strip. No digital tricks - the columns change color every few seconds. I've stayed at Bally's more than anywhere else in Vegas.

MGM Grand, Las Vegas, NV, 1996 (56k)

When built, the MGM was the largest hotel in the world at 5,009 rooms. Maybe it still is. I stayed there once in '93. It's a fifteen-minute walk from the parking lot to your room. It's too big and gaudy for my taste, which I admit is a silly thing to say about anything in Las Vegas.

Hoover Dam, 1996 (81k)

So Hoover Dam is a tourist trap and you've seen a million pictures of it. Well, this is my picture. The western bank is Arizona. As much as I like Arizona, the drive from here to Kingman on US 93 is about as bleak and uninviting as you'll find.

Lake Mead, 1996 (57k)

Lake Mead should be sucked dry in a few years by the population and hotel explosion taking place in Clark County, so I thought I'd get a picture of it while it still held water.

Hoover Dam, 1996 (49k)

A close-up of the water surging from the locks. A quick exposure "stops" the water so it almost looks like volcanic rock.