TLM10: THE LAST PEOPLE - DREA WHITBURN
Ever since we began ten issues ago, we have worked with photographer David Mushegain every issue to bring you a collection of some of the raddest people from all around the world. David shoots and gets to know the young kids he meets on his travels, through his friends, or just walking down the street, and we are always happy to share his discoveries with you. Our weekly postings of David’s Last People continue right here.
I first met Drea Whitburn last year when I was in Vancouver shooting a TV commercial for Nikon. I think I was a friend of her friend or something and I was searching for cool kids to put in this Nikon commercial and anyway Drea and I got in contact and met and have stayed close friends since. She’s come down to stay at mine in LA and I have hung out with her a few times in Vancouver. I will start by saying I love Vancouver. It’s such an awesome city and has such an awesome vibe. Drea is a perfect example of that awesome vibe. When I was young I traveled all over the world as a street performer. Every day I would get out and perform and hitch a ride to a new town or place. For a long time I traveled with my friend Barry Roberts. Barry and I always had a dream. The dream went something like this. We were hitching on a cold, rainy afternoon, of which there were many. All hope was nearly lost because the sun was about to set and forget getting a ride in the rain when the sun is gone. And then from the distance we see a VW van coming down the road. The van starts to pull over. We are overjoyed because we are going to be saved from the cold night. The van creeps closer and the window rolls down and whammo!!! It’s two gorgeous young ladies and they say, “Hey guys get in the van.” The rest of the dream can be left to the imagination. Well, even after a thousand hitches that bus never rolled down our road. So be it. There were a lot of nice other people that pulled over for us. But the reason I bring up the story is that Drea is super hot and she drives a van. And she not only drives the van, she lives in it. And if I was back in my late teens or early twenties and Drea pulled over to pick me up hitchhiking I would have probably lost the plot. She is my street-performing-days dream girl. Haha. So yeah Drea lives in her 1981 Chevy van with her blue heeler Marcel. She describes her van as a small apartment on wheels and told me it’s something she always wanted to do, live in her van, and now she does. I guess some of us are just born with a bit of wanderlust. Drea is studying Ayurveda and survives from acting and doing a little modeling here and there and other random odd jobs. Every time I talk to her she is up camping on somebody’s communal farm or something. Canada is full of awesome people. I love that country big time. Just wish their border agents weren’t such assholes. But hey, I’m from LA and we have the biggest asshole border agents in the world at LAX. I mean you couldn’t be a bigger asshole if you tried. Anyway Drea’s near-future goal is to bring her van down to warmer climates like California. And I’m totally into that idea. Get yourself down here Drea. I photographed Drea in her awesome machine.
More of David Mushegain’s work can be seen at DavidMushegain.com.
