Posts Tagged "Burning man"

It’s this time of the year when you reflect on what happened to you this year? First and foremost I spent two extraordinary weeks in Burma. Seven of my top ten images are from Burma and I could have easily have more. I have started to find that challenging weather environment can result in unique, more interesting images than fair weather. My last three images illustrate this point: a thunderstorm in Burning Man, a very strong dust storm or a foggy evening on the San Francisco Bay.

A common question I get is: What is Burning Man? It’s a very difficult question to answer because everyone has a different answer of what Burning Man is for him or her (even if he/she has never been to Burning Man). So rather than trying to describe Burning Man in general, I’m going to answer a couple of common questions I get every time. Disclaimer: this is my view of Burning Man. Why do I go to Burning Man? If you search or read news articles about Burning Man, you will find that it is a festival in the Nevada desert where young people are doing drugs and are naked. Ok I’m over simplifying it but raunchy pictures and drug use seems to sell paper much more than taking about the incredible art pieces that are built and burned. For me, Burning...

Depending of whom you ask, dust at Burning Man is a curse or a blessing. It’s a curse because when the wind is picking up, a dust storm can be really strong and makes your life miserable. You will get playa dust everywhere: in your eyes (invest in goggles), on your hair/body/clothes, inside your RV (or tent), inside your cooler, inside your engine (what! oh yes), inside your camera gear. For others (myself included), I love dust and dust storms. I cannot wait for the first strong dust storm, I literally run in the dust storm with my camera. For me, the dust storm brings the real burning man. Experienced (or well-equipped) burners don’t mind the dust and suddenly everything is covered in this fine sand. Suddenly burners sport great goggles, masks,...

This year was marked by weather perturbations. Twice during the building weeks, the city and construction were halted by rain and/or hail, creating delays in building the man or the temple. The man was finished Monday at 5pm and the Temple was opened Tuesday night or Wednesday morning. It’s not unusual to have the Man or the Temple unfinished by the time the city gate opens. A Monday morning rainstorm has shutdown the city once again but this time during the arrival. The rain transformed the city in a muddy pit and all traffic was suspended until it dried out. Several hundreds of people got stuck at the entrance for 24h. The luckiest of them got stopped in Reno, where they had still a bit of civilization. The unluckiest were stopped on the sandy access road...

It’s this time of year! By the time you will read this post, I will be driving to the Black Rock City to Burning Man. If you want to see what the drive is, here a time lapse video I made last year while we drove. [vimeo vimeo.com/73748066 w=880] Burning Man is a massive self-reliance art festival in the Nevada high desert. This year event is completely sold out with 68000 people expected. The idea of Burning Man is to be able to dedicate yourself to the spirit of community, art, and self-expression. If you have not seen my pictures about last year burning man, they are here.