Those timid, buttoned-down people who didn’t make the pilgrimage to Nevada’s scorching hot Black Rock Desert for Burning Man 2016 need not worry that they missed out on a soul-enriching experience they will cherish forever. Plenty of bold people with cameras were there for the just concluded, eight-day event, a much-ballyhooed annual celebration of art, community, and self-expression, and the whole thing’s been uploaded to Instagram. As it so happens, the popular photo-sharing platform has a tool that allows users to see posts from specific regions and locations. In this case, the location is Black Rock City, a temporary hamlet that exists only for the duration of Burning Man each year. It’s kind of a Brigadoon situation, only with scantier clothing and way more fire. In truth, Burning Man is the kind of large-scale happening that begs to be photographed, and some truly eye-popping images have emerged from this year’s gathering. Like this one, for instance, uploaded by luizaottoni:
It’s like Mad Max: Fury Road has been realized as an immersive, theme park experience. This whimsical vehicle, meanwhile, seems like it was plucked from a psychedelic comic book or maybe an animated student film.
And since this is Burning Man, how about a little fire, Scarecrow?
Burning Man is a place to see and be seen. Sort of. There are plenty of people there, usually over 50,000, but many of them are wearing costumes and masks. Maybe it’s a way of saying, “For 51 weeks out of the year, I am an assistant manager at a sporting goods store. At Burning Man, I can be a god. This is me as I would like to be seen.”
Some of the temporary structures erected for Burning Man are astonishing. Dig this temple, sumptuously photographed at dusk.
And whatever this thing is, it looks great.
A very intense time was had by all. And it’s only 51 short weeks until the next Burning Man. These folks will probably be there, if that’s a selling point.