The Secret Life of Sin City: The Unglamorous Side of Las Vegas

Swiss photographer Christian Lutz first came to Las Vegas at the peak of the economic downturn, in the winter of 2011. After that, he visited Sin City every year for another three years to capture pictures of how local residents were affected by the global financial crisis. His pictures were later included in a book called Insert Coins, which became a kind of ode to what is hidden behind neon signs and flashing icons on slot machines.

A man wrapped in a life-saving thermal blanket looks at one of the billboards.

A sad child clutches his teddy bear while drinking a cocktail with frozen juice.

A young couple walks past a homeless man on the deserted Las Vegas Strip - a section of Las Vegas Boulevard, where most of the largest hotels and casinos are located.

The legs of a half-naked girl standing on the bar. Many girls who have come to Las Vegas to try their luck in an effort to become an entertainment industry star, start with this.

A couple smeared with gold paint is sleeping on the streets of Las Vegas.

"I first came to Las Vegas in the midst of the crisis, in the winter of 2011. The situation couldn't leave me indifferent, so I just had to take a picture of it all. And I did it," said Christian Lutz.

Christian's photos are a kind of ode to what lies behind the bright neon signs of Las Vegas. And if they flicker in an attempt to convince adventurers that the shortest path to the so-called American dream will open for them behind the doors of the casino, then in contrast to them, the real, categorical American reality is hidden behind brilliant billboards.

A couple of people dressed in a duck costume are lying on the ground with beer bottles in their hand.

Pedestrian bridge. A homeless man is sitting on a skateboard, wrapped in a sheet. In front of him is a wine glass and a cardboard sign on which the word Determination ("Firm intention") is written.

Freaks are also people: a man in a dress is sitting on the street of the American gambling capital.