Ricky Martin: All in (Story 1)
This body of work documents the making of Ricky Martin’s Las Vegas residency.
I was invited to join the process to bring a distinct visual approach to the storytelling, one rooted in proximity, process, and truth. Early conversations included the idea of a coffee table book, and that intention shaped how I photographed the project from the beginning. I approached it as long form documentation rather than a highlight reel.
At the time, I was running a 5,000 square foot photo studio in Los Angeles. I shut it down to fully commit to this project and to be present in the way documentary work requires. That meant being immersed, available, and attentive to the in between moments where real stories tend to surface.
As the project unfolded, plans evolved and team members shifted on the artist's side. What remained constant was the work itself. Rehearsals stretched late into the night. Dancers pushed through exhaustion.
Creative teams problem solved in real time. Ricky showed up day after day, fully engaged in shaping the show. Designers Dean and Dan Caten of DSquared2 flew in from Italy and personally outfitted the tour, working hands on with Ricky and the dancers. From choreography to wardrobe to staging, the process was relentless, collaborative, and deeply human.
THAT IS WHAT KEPT ME PHOTOGRAPHING.
I have always been drawn to storytelling, especially the quieter details that reveal the humanity inside large scale creative machines. The pauses. The fatigue. The concentration. The moments that exist between spectacle and silence. While I cannot include everything here, these 18 images represent what felt essential. A distilled narrative of effort, trust, chaos, and commitment.
There are two stories living within this first gallery.
The first is the visible one. The hard work of Ricky and his team as they built a show of this scale through repetition, discipline, and collaboration.
The second runs alongside it more quietly. It is the story of my own persistence as a documentarian. Continuing to show up, honoring the people in the room, and staying committed to the work even as plans shifted. In that sense, this became a two way documentary. Their process and mine unfolding in parallel.
This is the first of two galleries.
The second will reflect a different phase of the journey, but this first chapter is about work. About commitment. About trusting the value of storytelling regardless of where the photographs ultimately live.
The book did not happen. That is part of the process sometimes. What did happen is the work itself.
Whether these images live on the pages of a coffee table book or within an online gallery, the intent remains the same. To honor the effort, the people, and the reality of what it takes to bring something of this scale to life.
This is only a snapshot of a much larger journey. Where it goes from here remains to be seen.