My Assignment for the week was to cover tent city, a few blocks where the homeless & jobless set up their living quarters and are for the most part left alone by the police. Three of us (all women) pulled the same assignment and approached the situation a little concerned about how we would be perceived. There were some issues of course as many of these people have been taken advantage of in the past or don't want their families to know their situation. Needless to say, they were leery of cameras.
After a few passes up and down the street I met the man who would later become the focus of my story. After he asked about my camera and what we were doing there I introduced myself and we got to talking. He is a Rick James impersonator (among other things), was putting on the show the next night and would be happy to have me photography him. He showed me some pictures he had of himself and directed me to his myspace site (http://www.myspace.com/gpthegoodandplentyentertainer).
The next night I covered his show at the El Cortez Casino by Freemont Street (near the old Las Vegas Casinos). The crowd loved him and after the show we did our interview. I hope you enjoy hearing his story. Thank you for taking the time to check it out.
Funk.Struggle.Life.
Photos & Audio by Corey Torpie
Funk. Struggle. Life. from Corey Torpie on Vimeo.
