Following the publication of some of my Burning Man 2013 photos on the Burning Man Galleries, I was invited by the Burning Man organization to participate as a photographer of its 'DocTeam'.
My special assignment was “People”.
To get access to all of my Flickr photos, including the risqué ones,
or to 'fave' some of them (which I would really appreciate),
you need
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Viewing photos on the Web, you may think that Burning Man is packed with sexy, half-naked, stunningly beautiful young women.
What conveys this false impression is that many photographers (including me) love to shoot the few gorgeous beauties illuminating the event... And that most of them love to have their photo taken!
Indeed, I loved shooting photos of the gorgeous beauties hanging around at Burning Man. But I also very much enjoyed shooting good looking, nicely dressed couples.
In addition to beauties and couples, I loved taking photos other great ‘Burners’, including men, families, acrobats and groups of people, especially when they wore amazing attires.
Among them, I especially enjoyed shooting the fabulous ballet performed for me by the 'Kozmik Twinz'...
The Burning Man glossary defines a 'Mutant Vehicle' as "a motorized conveyance that is radically, stunningly, permanently, and safely modified", or as a "sublimely beautiful work of art floating across the playa like a Miro painting"...
MVs have to be inspected and licensed by Burning Man's 'Department of Mutant Vehicles' (DMV). They are the only motorized vehicle allowed to ride at Burning Man.
Theoretically anyone can hop on and get a ride; but the rumor says that being a cute sexy chick gets you a better chance...
'Black Rock City', the temporary camp site hosting the 70 000 Burning Man participants, is a 'C' shaped arc enclosing a 1 mile (1.6 km) diameter desert area called the 'Playa' (see on a map of Burning Man).
The Playa is covered with over 100 fabulous pieces of Art and Art Installations. Except for the Man, they are brought in or built on site by Burning Man participants. Some are made out of wood and ceremonially burned at the end of the week.
At the center of the Playa stands 'The Man', a large wooden effigy of a man. It is traditionally being burned on Saturday night, during “The Burn”, a festive celebration gathering most participants, circled by partying Mutant Vehicles.
Being part of Burning Man’s DocTeam, I arrived a few days before day one, so I got a few shots the last steps of the Man's construction.
Half a mile away from the Man stands 'The Temple', a wooden building dedicated to payer, meditation, weddings, and other spiritual events. The 2016's theme was Da Vinci’s Workshop and the Temple looked very much like a pagoda.
It is traditionally being burned on the final Sunday night, during a silent ceremony closing the event.
If you want to get high resolution copies of the photos I shot of you,
please send me a mail at this address with the photo's reference or,
if they are not published online, a description of you and
the shooting circumstances
(date and time, attire, vehicle, background...).
I made every effort to ensure that the people I photographed agreed to be published online.
If however you don't want to see your photo online, please send me a email with the photo's reference at this addressand I'll be pleased to remove it
or to make you unrecognizable on the photo.
Equipment used
I always carried two
Nikon cameras and lenses on a BlackRapid double strap:
a D800E with a 16-35 zoom, and a D810 with a 28-300 zoom
(or sometimes at night with a 24-120 zoom).
For the Burn, I used my backup D750 with a 28-300 zoom on a tripod,
because I had forgotten to take a remote controller for the D800E/D810!
PARENTAL GUIDANCE: For adult audience only:
A few photos are NSFW because they contain some nudity... shocking!
However, such photos are visible only to Flickr members... but it's easy to sign up!
You've been warned...