The Wind Chasers, Slab City, CA 92233, USA. Portrait photograph by Dmitrii Demchenko, finalist in the Shoot The Frame Portrait photography award, November 2023

Finalist Portrait · November 2023

The Wind Chasers

Just like every resident of Slab City, California, Cuervo has many exciting stories to share. He told me a story about how he and his friend made a fire in the middle of the Sonoran desert and started fighting when they got drunk. Cuervo choked the guy out and he lost his consciousness. Cuervo sat next to him for several hours and waited for him to wake up. When he did, the guy promised Cuervo that he was going to kill him and headed to the town to pick up his rifle, and then came back. Apparently, Cuervo made it through that crazy night. The last time I talked to him he told me he was going to Mexico with his mules, because people like Cuervo and animals like his mules, Rock'N'Roll (Right) and Pink (Left) aren't made to stay in one place, they're made to chase the wind.