At the Whitney Library, if you know where to look, you’ll find something that grabs your attention. Not in the way a piece of loud, flashy art might, but in the quiet way that only the most arresting portraits can.
To the left of the main entrance, tucked away from the aisles of books, photos are hung with a deliberate simplicity—no frills, just light, shadows and human form. The work of local photographer Petit Monstre—aka Ryan Alexander—consists of ten images plucked from his photo book Oh Those Feels.
With an ambition to launch a men’s fashion blog with his best friend, Monstre found himself toggling with his first camera back in 2016.
“In the process of just learning how to use the camera, I kind of fell into photography,” he says. “I started off doing street photography. So at first, I was never taking pictures of people; it was just spaces. And then I decided to place people in those spaces.”
Ye Do I Walk
His approach to shooting isn’t about perfect composition, or glam shots taken in front of a studio backdrop. Rather, he leans on visual narration and storytelling.
“I try to kind of come up with a concept or a theme, and then I will try to find someone who fits that,” says Monstre. “It’s more like a movie, you don’t pick just anyone to play a role. They have to look a certain way, fit your story.”
The concepts go further than who’s in front of the lens. They’re about the space around them, the light that plays on their form, and the moment when everything falls into place. Monstre feels most comfortable shooting out in the real world—on the street, under blaring sun, in the spaces where light and shadow duke it out. His subjects aren’t posed mannequins. They’re real people, just existing in the moment.
Take “Ye Do I Walk.” A man in a yellow jersey, one foot still in the sunlight, the other swallowed by the dark, steps beneath the underbelly of a freeway. It’s all tension and contrast—half in, half out. The image could be a metaphor for a hundred different things, but you’re welcome to sit with it and come up with your own.
Then there’s “F.L.Y.,” a moment suspended in time, where a model, chin resting lightly on her hand, gazes slightly upward as a plane flies overhead. The proximity between her and the aircraft is uncanny and feels cinematic—it’s perfectly timed and has a sense of something imminent and untold.
In “My Dear Melancholy,” a model’s tattooed neck and chest are highlighted by warm light as they tilt their head back, surrendering to the gleam. It’s a tender, undeniably human moment.
The Oh Those Feels exhibit tells a story without words while nodding to the people and places of this city.
“To me, you can leave the viewer to create their own story behind the image,” he says.
PETIT MONSTRE: OH THOSE FEELS Through February 4; Monday-Thursday, 10 a.m.-8 p.m.; Friday-Sunday, 10 a.m.-6 p.m.; free, Whitney Library, thelibrarydistrict.org.
Click HERE to subscribe for free to the Weekly Fix, the digital edition of Las Vegas Weekly! Stay up to date with the latest on Las Vegas concerts, shows, restaurants, bars and more, sent directly to your inbox!
