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| The view from inside the Lost Nomad's of Vulcania |
I wasn't going to go this year…really. But then at the last minute somebody I had never met generously gifted me a ticket and vehicle pass. Apparently I was supposed to go, so I packed my funky old Toyota pickup in 3 hours and headed for the Black Rock Desert in Nevada, a 10 hour drive from Portland for the 11th time. I arrived at midnight and pulled over to rest before hitting the line of thousands of vehicles heaped with everything known to man. It can take several hours of queuing to get in to the temporary city, which numbered 66,000 inhabitants this year, the third largest in Nevada State, if only for a week. Lightning started to flash all around and then it rained. The playa, a vast pancake flat dry lake bed made of gypsum turns in to a layer of glue when its wet and it becomes impossible to drive. So perhaps 10,000 people became stranded in line all day Monday while many thousands more were turned back at the road. A muddy party developed around the hundreds of RV's, trucks, and cars as DJ's set up sound systems and people started socializing and dancing and barbecuing. The playa dried enough by sundown to reopen the gates and we flowed in. I arrived at Dustfish, where I camp on the Esplanade at midnight, taking 24 hours from when I arrived to get all the way in, a record wait. Let the fun begin!
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| Girl Scout Group 666 |
I am a documentarian at heart, probably a symptom of OCD, and I take a lot of pictures. Thankfully I took photography classes in college and over the years have learned to take good pictures. I crop them and edit them ruthlessly. This year I have whittled them down to 101 images that show a glimpse of the fantastical wonderland that is Burning Man. Enjoy.
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| Entertainment on top at an RV waiting in line to enter Burning Man |
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| Handstand on the Playa |
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| Tutu Tuesday |
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| Eidolon Panspermia Ostentatia Duodenum (epod) by Michael Christian and Dallas Swindle of Berkeley, California |
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| Eternal Return, Zoatrope by Peter Hudson https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/eternal-return-2014--2 |
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| Lost Nomads of Vulcania, by John Mross and Archive Designs of Eugene, Oregon |
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| Solar Palms |
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| Come closer... |
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| LOVE |
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| Burning Man Timeline, a history of the event since its beginnings |
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| Wheels of Zoroaster, by Anton Viditz-Ward of Telluride, Colorado |
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| Hayam Sun Temple, by Josh Haywood of London, England |
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| Party on a giant art car |
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| Parasolvent, by Dan Benedict of Anaheim, California |
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| Art cars at night |
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| A DJ at Ego Trip |
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| My friends Aradia and Tiare at the White Procession at the Temple of Grace on Thursday morning |
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| Butoh performance on Thursday morning at the Temple of Grace |
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| A couple from Santa Barbara, California at the White Procession at the Temple of Grace |
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| A flock of crows descends on an abandoned art car that had a flat tire |
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| Morning coffee in a dandelion helmet |
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| A little bowler at Black Rock Toilet Bowl |
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| (In)Visible by Kirsten Berg of Berkeley, California |
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| Sunset and Minaret, by Bryan Tedrick of Glen Ellen, California |
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| A woman writing a message on the base of Embrace, by the Pier Group |
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| Embrace, a 7 story wood sculpture of a couple embracing. It was burned on Friday morning but I was asleep |
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| The Man and Wind Horse House, a gateway by Joe Bob Merritt of Gunnison, Colorado |
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| Rainbow Chimes |
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| Desert Island art car |
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| The Monaco art car and Fledgling, a mechanical bird by Christian Ristow of El Prado, New Mexico |
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| Incredible mechanical flowers that open and close |
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| Tessalate steel shapes illuminated from within |
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| Sex Bombe Kabaret at Dustfish |
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| Sex Bombe Cabaret at Dustfish |
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Socializing in front of Center Camp
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Bike Bridge, by Michael Christian of Berkeley, California, fabricated by 12 young women from Oakland
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| Base of the Bike Bridge, by Michael Christian |
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| Nap Time in Center Camp |
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| Contact Improv in Center Camp |
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| Infinity Mirror in Center Camp |
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| Sock Savior |
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| Stargazer Lilies |
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| The Temple of Grace, by David Best of Petaluma, California |
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| Inside the Temple of Grace at night, by David Best |
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| Dancetronics all night party before the Embrace burn |
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| Root Society |
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| Macrame Hammocks |
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| A fabulously painted Citroen |
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| Sperm Wind Socks |
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| Giant cock in the Gay Quarter |
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| Playa Fashion |
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| A memorial procession from Dustfish for Lord Huckleberry |
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| Butoh in memory of Lord Huckleberry |
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| The sound booth at Dustfish |
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| An Israeli man on a bicycle rode up with a bowl of gummy worms. When I contemplating taking one, he said "Choose wisely". This is what I got. |
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| Ghost Ship in a dust storm |
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| Zap! by Bruce Miles |
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| (epod) by Michael Christian and Dallas Swindle of Berkeley, California |
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| Deer skull (I don't know the name of this piece) |
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| Add caption |
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| The Temple of Grace, by David Best of Petaluma, California |
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| Black Rock Observatory by Tom Varden |
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| Last Outpost, by Shing Yin Khor |
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| Swinging in the Last Outpost |
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| Sunrise Saloon, at sunset by Thomas Haan and Brian Jones |
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| The Road to Nowhere |
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| Bike Portal by Johnnie Olivan |
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| Cell-Abrate by Shannon Reagan |
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| Detail of Cell-Abrate |
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| Fire procession to burn the Man |
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| Art car |
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| Pulpo Mechanico art car |
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| Fire cannons |
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| Chatting before the Burn |
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The beginning of the burning of the Man
The battery ran out in my camera during the burn |
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| Fiery Tricycle |
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| Coffee and Day glo pastries on an art car |
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| Pulse and Bloom, by Shilo Shiv Suleman, Saba Ghole, and Rohan Dixit of Cambridge, Massachusetts |
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| Fire in Balance by Patrick Sheam |
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| Inverted flames on the ceiling of Fire in Balance |
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| Mayan Warrior art car |
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| Crashed out at LumenEssence |
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| Sunrise over the playa |
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| Sunrise and the Minaret by Brian Tedrick |
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| Ecstatic Sunrise |
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| The Lost Tea Party by Alex Wright, aka Wreckage International |
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| Morning on a wood scrap ship art car |
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| Good morning at the Twerkulator |
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| Gathering on Sunday morning in the Temple of Grace, by David Best |
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| Sleeping in the Temple of Grace |
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| Offerings in the Temple of Grace |
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| Sunday morning in the Temple of Grace |
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| Inside the Temple of Grace |
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| 3 dust devils emerging from the Temple Burn |
These images are just of fraction of the experience I had at Burning Man this year. I cannot begin to express how amazing and wonderful a week it was. I slipped out as the temple burned and was able to reach the road in less than 2 hours. It feels like a magnificent dream that soaks in to your pores, made real by the dust coating everything I brought with me.
Thanks for reading, and viewing, Jeffrey
