Travel: Burning Man 2005

Each August, in the Black Rock Desert of Nevada, a one-week long art festival that encourages the principles of radical self reliance and radical self expression is held. It is called Burning Man. A temporary city, called Black Rock City, is built in the desert. On the sixth night, a large wooden Man is burned.

That's at least the "official" definition of Burning Man. Personally, I can't make Burning Man tangible in words or pictures. It's just one of those things that one should see for themselves. It's so many things all rolled up in one; it is an experience.

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The road that leads into the Black Rock Desert passes through a Native American reservation, belonging to the Paiute Tribe. There are several roadside stands advertising Indian arts and crafts, and Indian tacos.

I pulled over for an Indian taco. It's a piece of frybread topped with meat and beans cooked chili-style, and shredded lettuce and tomatoes. I arrived just as the sun was going down, so the light was golden. As I sat down to eat, a Native American couple arrived on horseback and something about the way they looked sitting on their horses - their facial features, their profile, the light playing on them - was very timeless. I wanted to take a picture, but something stopped me; I felt I would be intruding. Instead, I approached and asked if I could pet their horses. They said yes. I wished I'd had some carrots or apples.

A section of the dry lake bed that Black Rock City is built on, or "the playa."

There are many art cars at Burning Man. One of my favorites is La Contessa, a Spanish galleon-style pirate ship built around a school bus. Inside the ship are sitting lounges and a bar. Passersby are invited inside to ride with the Contessa as she sails the seven seas ... errr, open playa. Yarrr!

Every evening at dusk, the Lamplighters go around Black Rock City and hoist gas lamps up on posts.

I came across this couple kissing on La Contessa one morning.

Thunderdome - one of the theme camps that comes back every year. The members build this large geodesic dome and contensants do battle with each other in the style of the film Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome.

The Man

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All photos are ©2005 Kathryn Hill Photography.