Gary Draluck | Burning Man

Photo © Gary Draluck-All Rights Reserved

Brace yourself for over 100 unique photographs of the incredible Burning Man 2015 festival by photographer Gary Draluck, and set some time aside to view scenes that are so unusual that I thought these were from another planet.

According to Wikipedia, Burning Man is an annual gathering that takes place at Black Rock City—a temporary community erected in the Black Rock Desert in Nevada. The event is described as an experiment in community and art, influenced by 10 main principles, including "radical" inclusion, self-reliance and self-expression, as well as community cooperation, gifting and (sic) "decommodification", and leaving no trace.

Some describe the Burning Man festival as a socialist utopia; bringing thousands of people to an empty desert to create an alternative society. Money is banned, advertisements are taboo, and this creates a gift economy. Others are critical of it, describing it as a week-long art party in a handmade city in an inhospitable environment, and that is being taken over by the rich Silicon Valley entrepreneurs.

Whatever side of this divide one belongs to, the fact remains that Burning Man is wonderfully photogenic, weird, alien...almost extra terrestrial, and has a Mad Max-style environment.

Gary Draluck is a multi faceted photographer from Oakland, California, who's enamored with music and musical photography, with emphasis on tango, and naturally on Burning Man which he visited many times. He's also an alum of the Foundry Photojournalism Workshop (Chiang Mai chapter).