10 stunning photos of the insane art you can find at Burning Man
The Black Rock Desert, situated in a dry lakebed in Nevada, makes for an extremely dramatic backdrop.
As you might imagine, photographing Burning Man comes with a daunting set of challenges.
"Dust storms are horrific to breathe in, and not great for fragile camera gear ... You can't drive in your car, so I had to carry around my equipment, including heavy tripods, by bike and foot," Guy said. "If the dust weren't bad enough, I've had years where a third of my shots were blank frames because the heat had melted the foam bumpers in my camera's shutter."
Though many people now travel to Burning Man for the parties, Guy's focus has always been the art produced for the event.
"Burning Man is one of the few places on Earth other than private homes and some religious institutions where nothing, including the art, can be bought or sold. The fact that the art isn't driven by commercial imperatives frees artists to take their work in very interesting directions," Guy said. Cupcake cars created by the "Acme Muffineering Team" certainly fit the bill.
In more than a decade of attending Burning Man, Guy has seen the art installations grow to an incredible scale.
"In the early days an art piece might be made by an artist or two and a few friends," he said. "Today, massive teams work together in enormous warehouses to build the startling art you see out there."
"El Pulpo Mecanico," an enormous octopus made from scrap metal in 2014, shoots off flames to the delight of bystanders.
"The darkness of night has long been banished at Burning Man, and it's hard to see the stars from the center of the city," Guy said.
Built by artist Andy Tibbetts in 2013, this pirate ship can shoot fire and drive despite its front wheel lacking an axle.
"From an aesthetic standpoint the ever-changing light and weather conditions present constant challenges, as do the constantly changing surroundings of the event itself," Guy said. "People and their bikes come and go, as do art cars and service vehicles."
It's the enormous temples, however, that Guy considers the "emotional core" of Burning Man.
First created by noted sculptor David Best, the temples are considered nonsecular sacred spaces, where anyone can gather to grieve or meditate. Though they take months to build, all of the temples are burned at the conclusion of the weeklong event.
The temples aren't the only structures that go up in flames.
At the end of the week, a massive sculpture of "the man" is burned to the ground in a highly symbolic ceremony meant to bring the entire Burning Man community together. "This is meaningful stuff, and not what you'd expect from your typical summer festival," Guy said.
Entitled "Embrace," this 70-foot wooden sculpture is meant to symbolize human relationships.
Built for the 2014 celebration of Burning Man, it was made only to be destroyed.
In a photo taken after the man burn in 2013, participant Kaspian Khalafi surveys the wreckage.
"The dust, the vast scale of the desert against which we’re all incomprehensibly small creatures, the gatherings of friends, the incredible art, the sense of open invitation to be who you want to be – that's always part of Burning Man," Guy said.
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