Exposing What's Beneath
A journey below the Las Vegas strip into an overlooked art scene
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Artist statement BIOGRAPHY Dany Haniff is a photographer and graphic designer from Las Vegas who enjoys capturing the “urban” aspects of his subjects. He focuses on destructive, edgy textures mixed with photo effects to create his stylized photos. He especially enjoys portraits, mixing limited studio lighting with natural lighting on location to capture the essence of people’s emotions and their surroundings. Often he combines his knowledge of graphic design and photography together to adjust colors, resulting in somewhat surreal images. Dany is very passionate about photography and initially wanted to learn it because he wanted to use his own materials when creating graphic design collateral.
PROJECT “Exposing What’s Beneath” documents a very different side of Las Vegas rarely seen. So rare that only few locals know about it. Dany Haniff went beyond capturing the typical entertainment aspect of what puts the city on the map, rather finding possibly the best graffiti (not) seen in Las Vegas buried far beneath the Strip in storm drains miles long. Armed with flashlights and a camera, his journey led to an unforgettable adventure that would bring light to art hidden in the darkness. Overall, the lessons learned from this journey is continue to do what you love even if it is overlooked. Do it for the passion, not the fame.
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Site beneath the Strip Right beneath the Las Vegas Strip lies an art gallery that remains unknown.
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Storm Drains Six storm drain entrances are different paths leading to the same experience.
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Strip bombing A preview of the journey below the Strip on a tagged rock.
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Entrance into Darkness Daylight acts as the only light source upon entering a storm drain.
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Mile-long gallery Further down the tunnel lies another area lit by a grate above.
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Early Exit A wide grate shines a pattern of light below, reminiscent of a ladder leading to the street above.
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Division between Art and Trash The art continues to improve as the floor get dirtier.
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No holds barred Nothing is off limits, attention to detail is also given to the individual bars of the grate above.
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In the Shadows The tunnel finally opens up into an area wider than the “hallway.�
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An Artists' Paradise Around the corner opens up a whole new area worth exploring, far away from the public eye.
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Ladder to Nowhere 14
The ladder symbolizes the artwork itself, trapped with nowhere to go. Artwork completely covers the walls lit up by the single, yet biggest grate above.
Hidden Art The other side separates into larger openings as opposed to the original, narrow six entrances.
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Evidence Left behind Spray paint cans left behind by previous artists are seen on the floor.
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Bright colors in a dark environment Muddy water creates a natural barrier between the viewer and the artwork.
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Muddy Reflections 18
The smell of sewage adds another element to overcome within the storm drains, besides the lack of light.
Grate Expectations A close-up of the dividers of the grate above are tagged as well as the walls surrounding it. This particular grate also acts as a light source in an otherwise pitch black environment.
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Accompanied by my own Shadow My shadow appears on the ceiling as flashlights shine from behind.
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Not just paint drips Down the tunnel, water drips loudly echo in a open area of tagged pillars, adding to the other mysterious sounds heard from a distance.
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Photography by dany haniff