About
Thank you for visiting my gallery of Burning Man images, and special thanks to all of you who made this collection possible by writing numerous emails asking me about my pictures. It's especially gratifying to have people appreciate my efforts. Your emails and comments are what inspired me to compile my best Burning Man images and make them accessible to everyone on the web. Also, thank you to all of the Burning Man artists, performers, dancers, musicians, designers and self expressionists who make this absolutely unique event possible by their installations and endless creativity.
I believe that Art is, and cannot be other than, the exact reproduction of Nature. Photography is a system of visual editing. In a simple sense, it is essentially surrounding a portion of one’s cone of vision with a frame, while standing in the right place at the right time. For me, taking a picture is a matter of choosing between given possibilities. The beauty is that the possibilities are infinite and the outcome unpredictable. Playa -- the dust field where Burning Man takes place -- is an open studio in constant motion.
In my teens, photography was was my hobby. At any given moment I’d be either taking pictures or (on the rainy days in Prague) entertaining myself in the darkroom. In time, my hobby grew into an obsession and addiction. For me the camera has become an exploring tool, paving the roads to unknown and mysterious adventures -- Burning Man certainly qualifying as a mysterious and exceptional adventure.
For many years all of my photographs were shot on film (including the first three years of Burning Man). I always had a wishful thinking that one day I would walk through the jungle of negatives and try to separate the jewels from sand, but the whole process was painfully slow. When some of my images where displayed in the Reno Truckee River Gallery and printed in the Burning Man Calendar, I finally decided to set a definite target date on my project and create a comprehensive gallery of Burning Man photographs.
As you may have guessed, the surreal effects of the Playa dust (hence the ‘Dust’ in ‘Dust to Ashes’) has been an irresistible magnet, drawing me in and capturing my full attention. As annoying as the dust gets at times, it creates completely new visual realities, spurring explosive blasts of creativity, resulting in unpredictable and extraordinary results. In reality, it comes down to standing in the middle of a massive dust storm, waiting for the right wave of dust to roll through and provide the opportunity to capture the elusive and mystical creations of the Playa.
I get a lot of emails asking “how on Earth can you keep your camera protected from heat, dirt and dust?” Of the three hazards, dust is definitely the one great enemy of both film and digital SLR cameras. If you are using digital SLR, countless dust particles can collect on the sensor. the negative effects of which intensify as time progresses. If you are using film SLR, with every shot you use new and clean negative frame, but dust sticking to your cleaning brushes can create scratches on the film emulsion.
In my experience, I have found a few good ways to protect your equipment. Many people use Underwater camera plastic bags around their camera bodies and lenses. The Underwater camera plastic housings seem to work well with most digital SLR cameras like Nikon, Canon, Olympus etc. Some people prevent the dust from getting inside their camera by using only one zoom lens and not changing it (while other photographers carry multiple cameras with different lenses). Dustproof camera housings are options, too. Ultimately, the only true way to protect your camera equipment is to avoid the dust storms and the Burning Man lifestyle.
Unfortunately, the equipment protection methods I’ve discussed all have big limitations for me. Burning Man is heaven for a photographer, and with so much going on at once I feel I would miss the fast unfolding and unrepeatable scenes if I were restricted by camera protection equipment. In just a few days from the start of Burning Man, the Playa is completely empty, many of the installations burned or gone forever. Burning Man will always remain for me a story without an end. There is a nostalgic feeling about recording Black Rock City as it reappears and disappears, year after year. It is for these reasons that my priority is solely to shoot precious moments -- the replaceable equipment, although costly, must take the backseat.
I hope you enjoy the Burning Man images on this site and once again thank you for visiting.
Ales
