“A city in the desert. A culture of possibility. A network of dreamers and doers.”
Burning Man is an experiment in community, art, radical self-expression, and radical self-reliance that takes place annually in the Black Rock Desert in northern Nevada, USA.
The Burning Man event is guided by ten principles: radical inclusion, gifting, decommodification, radical self-reliance, radical self-expression, communal effort, civic responsibility, leaving no trace, participation and immediacy.
This year’s theme is ANIMALIA. The event starts on August 27, and culminates with the ritual burning of a large wooden effigy, which is set alight on Saturday night, September 2, 2023 in the Black Rock Desert of Nevada.
“I like going to Burning Man, for example. That’s an environment where people can try out different things. I think as technologists we should have some safe places where we can try out some new things and figure out what is the effect on society, what’s the effect on people, without having to deploy kind of into the normal world.” – Larry Page
Photographer Trey Ratcliff is known for his high dynamic range (HDR) photography and is credited for the first HDR image to be hung at the Smithsonian Institute in Washington D.C.
“Light has no meaning without your eyes. You give it meaning.” – Trey Ratcliff
A constant presence at the “Burning Man” festival, Trey Ratcliff introduces us to a new world of mystery and magic.
All photos © Trey Ratcliff / Stuck in Customs.
“If your life is burning well, poetry is just the ash.” – Leonard Cohen