As I saw posts on social media from people going to Burning Man next week, I realized that I hadn't gotten through all of my photos from the last time I went, in 2012. Between the heat, the dust and the darkness, the conditions can be challenging for photography, but with hundreds of works of art and mutant vehicles, it's a hotbed of creativity and a riot of color.
In spite of a ban on commercial activity within the event, estimates on the economic impact on Northern Nevada alone ranged from $35 – 44M in 2012 (not including participants' preparations at home). Home Depot, Wal-Mart and many other retail establishments get cleaned out this week, selling building and camping supplies and groceries.
www.MyPhotoGuides.com
#burningman #Nevada #blackrockdesert #BLM #2012
Comments
Move your imagination
You haven't been back?!
Great shot, Jeff!
I wish I could go one day.
+Sivan Rehan you will
It is simultaneously awesome and a great challenge. Beautiful shot! I may return someday…
I wish I could participate in that craziness. .. one day…. sigh…. 😜 Awesome picture. … awesome sculpture! 👍😀
Sculpture magnifique des petits soleil qui illumine le monde
+Pam Boling I'd love to go back, but have been too busy. Last year I was finishing the book. At the moment I have to get it sold (although I'd probably go if a ticket dropped in my lap). Maybe next year!
+John Getchel If it's not the heat, or the dust, some years rain and mud is an issue. This year apparently it's a massive infestation of bugs!
It's hard to beat that constant state of amazement you feel at all of the creative, intricate, kinetic, interactive, and sometimes just plain bizarre things that people come up with. I hope that I have opportunities to return in the future.
Are you going to meet up with +Trey Ratcliff?
Nice
+Paul Kieley I invited him to my G+ Photowalk at Burning Man in 2011, but it's hard to connect with people there, since there's essentially no electronic communication. It's just you and 50-60,000 other people in a big dust storm. Unfortunately I won't be able to make it this year, so I'll have to catch Trey another time.
+Jeff Sullivan That's a shame, last i heard he was in Nevada.
+Paul Kieley Good point, he may be in the area early. +Trey Ratcliff , want to head out to the Wild West "ghost town" of Bodie tomorrow (Saturday) night? It'll be pretty cool under the "supermoon" light!
Very good
Two sides to every coin –
https://www.jacobinmag.com/2015/08/burning-man-one-percent-silicon-valley-tech/
Stick with Bodie 🙂
Pretty
Wow
Love the are pretty
+Ed Schmidt Burning Man is like a mirror. People see in it exactly what they expect to see. What they say probably reveals more about them then it does about the people they're characterizing. So perhaps the article is most interesting in the current anti-rich-people backlash in this country, which isn't entirely without merit since the ultra-rich definitely have rigged things deeply in their favor for a long time now, but I don't know if this particular event can be painted with such a broad brush.
I do see a lot of… let's call them "techies". I lived in Silicon Valley for the better part of 40 years and worked in high tech for 20. Knowing from firsthand experience how hard people there work, it's impressive that they have time to design and set up camps, build art installations and art cars, and do that on top of their jobs.
Yes, the event takes money, but for the fixed art installations there's a very healthy grant system which invests a lot of the revenue in tickets back into the art (which didn't seem to be acknowledged in the article, maybe I missed it). As in any city, the infrastructure isn't free either. $50-60 /day isn't really that bad for tickets, and there's the low income program for people who need that.
Yes, there probably has been a cultural shift over time, but don't forget that there are dozens to hundreds of subcultures represented, and no one has to wander far from their favorite seminars and camps, or interact with many people as they move about the playa.
Yeah, it's a little annoying that wealthy people rent RVs for $5000/week and "miss" fully experiencing the dust, but that nit about a small percentage of the population doesn't exactly represent or define such a huge and diverse event.
At worst, the people described as jetting in for 24 hours will probably arrive on Saturday and depart on Sunday. The weekend is much more crowded, and it is very different than Tuesday through Thursday. So people who want the tech culture and networking can come on the weekend, seek out those camps, people who want something a little more laid back can come earlier and avoid them. There's no "one thing" in a city of 60,000.
Burning Man is what you make of it. People perceive whatever their preconceptions allow them to see. It's basically a one week microcosm of life.
Outside of the event, Reno is better off for the revenue. There are a lot of low to no cost solar projects across the region which wouldn't exist without Black Rock Solar (http://www.blackrocksolar.org/news/category/installations/).
The article does bring up some points which are fair game for healthy discussion, but other than that narrow useful purpose, it's far from a complete or fair characterization of the event, nor does it say much about the 60,000 individuals attending. Rather than a two-sided coin, it's more like 60,000 sides. People have very different experiences based upon what spaces they choose or happen to venture into over the course of the week. Because of that, it"s very different even from one day or night to another. I'm not aware of anything quite like it on the planet.
Thank you +Jeff Sullivan for your very thoughtful response. I've watched the Black Rock Desert playa change over the years with sadness due to the increased use and I appreciate the efforts Burning Man makes to minimize the damage. I realize the damage could be way worse however increased exposure equals increased much needed support to protect the Black Rock and places like the Black Rock. As in life, there is lots of nuance in the issue and the more we understand and appreciate the nuance, the more we can come together and move forward.
wooo