This photo story is taken from VICE magazine, v29n2: THE REASONS TO BE CHEERFUL ISSUE. To subscribe to four print issues each year, click here—you’ll need to subscribe by Friday, August 29 to ensure the summer issue is the first one you’re sent.

I came back that night like I said I would. Joe, the manager, was at the front. We talked. I told him I wasn’t trying to make anyone look bad. I was just there to document something real.

He gave me a shot. And that’s how I fell into the world of The Madonna’s.

At first, I thought I’d just shoot a few portraits. One night, maybe two. But I kept coming back. Night after night. Losing hours under the lights. Watching girls work the pole while tourists blinked in slow motion, overwhelmed and underdressed.

I talked with the dancers in the back duri

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