Thunderdome


I thought I would give you and me a break after the first four images from Cuba. I still have lots of images from other trips and I also think that the blog stays most interesting when switching between different topics.

The Thunderdome did kind of stick out a little compared to other things I saw at Burning Man. This seemed to be the place to go for some serious adrenalin rush. Obviously, the folks you are seeing on top of the dome are spectators. What you cannot see (because of motion blur) is that down inside fighters/volunteers with harnesses were hanging on very tall swings. Two fighters per match, swinging toward each other beating each other like crazy with pool noodles. Pretty weird, huh?
I think those fights were only going on at nights. Once I passed by the Thunderdome during the day and saw an army of french maids climbing and posing on top of the dome. I leave the view to your imagination, it looked interesting to say the least.

Some Kind of Burner Portrait


This is a portrait of a burner, however I didn't take this at the festival. The story is that my visit to Burning Man seems to have a much longer lasting effect then I would have expected. Because of my pictures, more and more burners get in touch with me. Now if you are not familiar with BM, you probably don't know what this means. I'm happy to share my impressions: the people you meet there are people of the most creative, kindest, and entrepreneurial kind - 50,000 of them. This has all been very interesting to me so far. The lady in the picture is a photography student. She contacted me on Facebook and then "booked" me for a 1-on-1 course to learn about my approach to picture-taking.

In the picture below you see Alex and Yanina. Alex and Yanina got married at Burning Man. I didn't know about them until their best friend Laurent contacted me to ask about the Bliss Dance photo. In a virtual way, I accompanied Laurent during his quest seeking for the best way to make a wedding present out of it. The result is a print on metallic paper behind 1/4 inch Plexiglas. Receiving this photo kind of made my day. Not sure how to explain this. I very much enjoy looking at the contrast between the day I took off to the dessert not knowing what to expect, and today, when looking at the positive ripple-effect it still has.