What is Burning Man?

It's an event held on an ancient lakebed.  Barren, perfectly flat, with nothing but harsh weather and dust storms for miles.  Nothing lives or grows there.  For a few days, a community appears out of nowhere and becomes one of the largest cities in Nevada. And what a wondrous place it is...
 

The best catchphrase I've heard for it is 'Radical Self-Expression'. 30,000 people bring their art, their performances, their wacky costumes, and the attitude to live together in an extreme environment. It brings out some very interesting elements in everyone. I feel they become just a bit more like they wish they could be than normal life permits. (Reassuringly, this is almost always a good thing. This does not mean that absolutely everyone is perfect or trustworthy, much as I wish I could say otherwise.)

Though the event is less anarchistic than it was when it was younger (and smaller), it still has only as many rules as needed. Once you arrive you can't leave and return, you can't use money -- you share, you improvise. When the event is over your care and the year-round work of many volunteers make sure the desert is exactly as it was before.  This includes (of you do it right) evaporating the water you use in pools, rather than letting it hit the ground, and packing out every stray fibre, staple, scrap.

Imagine what you get when so many people are each doing their own unusual, interactive thing.  There is a constant parade of performances, odd structures, music, noise, color. It is a surreal experience, and for some a life-changing one. For me, it's a chance to shift my perspective and meet some amazing people.

I bought a digital camera after a whole collection of carefully gathered shots with a film camera at Burning Man 2000 were lost when the film failed to rewind.  These pages are a mix of Burning Man events since then:

Burning Man 2001 - The Seven Ages of Man

Burning Man 2002 - The Floating World

Burning Man 2003 - Beyond Belief

Burning Man 2004 - The Vault of Heaven