A city of 60,000 people rises from the dust each summer at the beginning of the <a href="index.php?page=&url=http%3A%2F%2Fburningman.org%2F" target="_blank" target="_blank">Burning Man </a>festival. Photographer NK Guy's book "<a href="index.php?page=&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.taschen.com%2Fpages%2Fen%2Fcatalogue%2Fphotography%2Fall%2F05786%2Ffacts.nk_guy_art_of_burning_man.htm" target="_blank" target="_blank">The Art of Burning Man</a>" charts 16 years of the festival's art, including the 2014 piece "Embrace" (shown here) by Kevan Christiaens, Kelsey Owens, Bill Tubman, Joe Olivier, Matt Schultz and the Pier Group.
A city of 60,000 people rises from the dust each summer at the beginning of the Burning Man festival. Photographer NK Guy's book "The Art of Burning Man" charts 16 years of the festival's art, including the 2014 piece "Embrace" (shown here) by Kevan Christiaens, Kelsey Owens, Bill Tubman, Joe Olivier, Matt Schultz and the Pier Group.
NK Guy/Courtesy Taschen
"For some people it's a big party, for others, (a chance) to work with a community of friends to build a massive project you could never do by yourself," says Guy. "For some it's a spiritual experience, for some it's the biggest brashest loudest rave you've ever seen."
"For some people it's a big party, for others, (a chance) to work with a community of friends to build a massive project you could never do by yourself," says Guy. "For some it's a spiritual experience, for some it's the biggest brashest loudest rave you've ever seen."
NK Guy/Courtesy Taschen
Structures such as "The Temple of Transition" by David Best and the Temple Crew (built in 2011) rise up in the desert for a week's time.
Structures such as "The Temple of Transition" by David Best and the Temple Crew (built in 2011) rise up in the desert for a week's time.
NK Guy/Courtesy Taschen
First attending Burning Man in 1998, Guy says he "wasn't prepared for what a vast bustling city of art and experience I'd find. It was like visiting a foreign country that you'd seen on a postcard — nothing quite prepares you for the experience of immersion in such a culture."
First attending Burning Man in 1998, Guy says he "wasn't prepared for what a vast bustling city of art and experience I'd find. It was like visiting a foreign country that you'd seen on a postcard — nothing quite prepares you for the experience of immersion in such a culture."
NK Guy/Courtesy Taschen
"It's like being transported to an alien planet, or walking onto a movie set when nobody is filming," said Guy. Shown here is the 2013 sculpture "CS (Clock Ship) Tere" by Andy Tibbetts.
"It's like being transported to an alien planet, or walking onto a movie set when nobody is filming," said Guy. Shown here is the 2013 sculpture "CS (Clock Ship) Tere" by Andy Tibbetts.
NK Guy/Courtesy Taschen
Guy's Burning Man photography started as "a desire to capture and interpret the incredible sights around me to help me process it, really."
Guy's Burning Man photography started as "a desire to capture and interpret the incredible sights around me to help me process it, really."
NK Guy/Courtesy Taschen
"The most powerful group of works would be the yearly temples that are constructed in the desert," says Guy. "They've become a secular sacred space, where people can gather to grieve and experience loss of any kind." "The Temple of Joy," created by David Best and the Temple Crew in 2002, is shown here.
"The most powerful group of works would be the yearly temples that are constructed in the desert," says Guy. "They've become a secular sacred space, where people can gather to grieve and experience loss of any kind." "The Temple of Joy," created by David Best and the Temple Crew in 2002, is shown here.
NK Guy/Courtesy Taschen
Pictured here is the 2013 piece "Remains of the Man," by Burning Man participant Kaspian. The festival has given Guy "a sense of what teams of volunteers, guided by a common vision and goal, can accomplish. All without the usual structures of hierarchy, money, government, religious institutions, or corporations."
Pictured here is the 2013 piece "Remains of the Man," by Burning Man participant Kaspian. The festival has given Guy "a sense of what teams of volunteers, guided by a common vision and goal, can accomplish. All without the usual structures of hierarchy, money, government, religious institutions, or corporations."
NK Guy/Courtesy Taschen
"Art is central to the event," says Guy, "from the very first Burning Man figure to the vast plain of installations that characterizes them even today."
"Art is central to the event," says Guy, "from the very first Burning Man figure to the vast plain of installations that characterizes them even today."
NK Guy/Courtesy Taschen
"The two-lane road that winds its way north across the desert isn't any wider today than it was 16 years ago. And this has put a fixed limit on the number of people that can reasonably be accommodated," says Guy.
"The two-lane road that winds its way north across the desert isn't any wider today than it was 16 years ago. And this has put a fixed limit on the number of people that can reasonably be accommodated," says Guy.
NK Guy/Courtesy Taschen
Pictured here is "El Pulpo Mecanico," a 2014 piece by Duane Flatmo and Jerry Kunkel. No matter how popular Burning Man becomes, Guy says some things don't change. "The gatherings of friends, the sense of open invitation to be who you want to be — that's always part of Burning Man."
Pictured here is "El Pulpo Mecanico," a 2014 piece by Duane Flatmo and Jerry Kunkel. No matter how popular Burning Man becomes, Guy says some things don't change. "The gatherings of friends, the sense of open invitation to be who you want to be — that's always part of Burning Man."
NK Guy/Courtesy Taschen
The 2013 installation "Lost Suitcase" by Pi Feathersword shows the vastness of the Nevada desert.
The 2013 installation "Lost Suitcase" by Pi Feathersword shows the vastness of the Nevada desert.
NK Guy/Courtesy Taschen