Burning Man redefines photography

Wandering through the Baldwin Photographic Gallery might give you the impression that you are stepping into horror writer Clive Barker's Skins of the Father. The photographs by A. Leo Nash and Barbara Traub capture an expansive desert of everything but normality where monstrous beings of all shapes, colors and sizes congregate each year with contraptions that challenge everyday familiarity.

The photographs in "Images from Burning Man" are not meant to horrify, but rather capture the spirit of the annual "Burning Man Festival" in the Black Rock Desert of Nevada. The monstrous beings are actually humans. Some are decked in unimaginable and elaborate costumes, while others are nude and painted in colors like blue or red with devil horns.

Anything goes at "Burning Man," which started in 1986 when Larry Harvey and Jerry James burned a wooden 8-foot tall figure at Baker Beach in San Francisco. People across the beach gathered around to witness what would become a tradition.

In 1990, park authorities prohibited Harvey and James from burning their figure on the beach, prompting Harvey and James to move the festivities to the Black Rock Desert, a prehistoric lakebed that supports no animal or plant life. Now, the wooden figure looms at over 40-feet tall and about 25,000 people come from around the world to attend. The challenge of the festival is for all attendees to participate and contribute in a unique and personal way.

Pictures taken by Nash and Traub document the creativity of the festival over the years and simultaneously become their form of creative expression and participation at "Burning Man."

"I'm sort of performing, [and] I'm part of the spectacle," Traub said.

In 1994, she relocated to San Francisco from her hometown of Baltimore and discovered "Burning Man" after a road trip led her to the Black Rock Desert.

Once back in San Francisco, she found a brochure advertising Burning Man and decided to go that year. She said the festival signaled a beginning for herself in her new city. The trip was more than a beginning.

"Burning Man had defined my life in San Francisco," Traub said.

Nash also began attending Burning Man in 1994. He said he heard of the event through friends and decided to accompany them that year to the festival.

"It was like a door opened," Nash said about his initial impression of the festival. He said he felt at home with "all these people that were not interested in mainstream America."

Does the size of "Burning Man" endanger its underground approach to art? Not at all, Nash said.

"The fact that it is bigger allows the organization to create on a bigger scale," he said.

Nash said this means the creativity has gotten better each year, and that the creativity has a different effect on each photographer.

"It's always interesting to see how two different artists view the same thing," senior Amie Farr said.

Tom Jimison, the curator of the Baldwin Photographic Gallery, also said he liked the contrast between the two photographers.

Jimison said he first encountered Nash and Traub at "Photo Americas," a festival in Portland celebrating photography, in October 2000.

"I was thinking about doing a two-person show, which we've never done before," Jimison said.

According to him, the opportunity presented itself when the gallery had a spot to fill in January and February due to a cancellation.

"It's really like having two shows," Jimison said. He described Traub as being more reactionary.

"She goes for the moment," he commented.

Nash, however, sets his pictures up, Jimison said.

"The subjects are working with him," he adds.

Nash said he considers himself a people photographer, but his pictures become landscapes.

"I'm not really sure what [the photographs] say about me," Nash said.

Looking at Traub and Nash's photographs makes the desert seem more like a clean canvas. The participants and their creations are like strokes of vivid paint upon the barren expanse of land captured by the "Burning Man" photography veterans.

Traub's photographs hold an eyeful to look at while Nash's are sparser and have a lot of energy packed into a concentrated area. Traub focuses more on people and their immediate energy.

When taking pictures, Traub said she seeks the "weirdness of everyday life." She describes her work as surrealistic and considers "the figure as a landscape." She said her pictures ask, "Where does the rock end and the body begin?"

Despite the impact "Burning Man" has had on her, Traub does not know if she will attend this year.

"What's left to shoot?" she asked, but she said she also wonders if "Burning Man" is her life's work. To her, the festival is "very American" and at the "forefront of American avante garde." She said she feels like she is part of a movement, a cultural renaissance.

Nash, on the other hand, said the decision isn't so easy.

"So many of my friends are involved with it," he said.

No, it's not a Clive Barker story. It's more like Mardi Gras with a twist of depth. It's not about the party but it is about the experience.

Traub said the strangest sight she ever saw at "Burning Man" was when she looked toward the sky one evening in 2000 and saw a "quartet of comets," which she was told later was a satellite breaking apart. She said everyone saw it, and they were all part of the experience together.

The Baldwin Photographic Gallery will display 25 images from Nash and Traub until Feb. 28.

Both photographers will be at MTSU Feb. 4 at 7:30 p.m. to give a lecture and slide presentation in the John Bragg Mass Communication Building, Room 103.

A reception will follow in the Baldwin Photographic Gallery afterward.