Burning Man – Scott London

Burning Man is a week-long gathering devoted to art, creativity and self-expression. It’s held each summer in Nevada’s Black Rock Desert. The event is difficult to describe. It’s not quite an art festival, not quite a desert rave, and not quite a social experiment, but something of all three.

I’ve been documenting Burning Man for many years, covering the event on assignment for Rolling Stone, CNN and other media outlets. My work has appeared in numerous books, magazines and newspapers.

My images from the event are featured in the book Burning Man: Art on Fire, a collaboration with Jennifer Raiser and Sidney Erthal. A comprehensively revised and expanded edition featuring more than 200 of my images was just published by Quarto. In June 2024, the book won two Indie Book Awards, including “Best Coffee Table Book of the Year.”

You’ll find a selection of image galleries below. For more about the project, check out a talk I gave at the de Young Museum in San Francisco, or read some of the press and interviews at the bottom of this page. Thank you for visiting.

The Burning Man Series

This set brings together some of my better-known images from Burning Man taken over a period of many years. It’s tough to narrow down tens of thousands of images to just one or two hundred, so this is a snapshot view. For a deeper dive, have a look at the other sets on this page, or check out the press coverage and interviews in the links below.

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Zozobot, an installation by artist Walker Babington

Burning Man 2024

Burning Man has always been something of a surreal place — an ephemeral playground of whimsical art installations, wacky theme camps, startling art cars and bizarre performance pieces. But this year’s theme, “Curiouser and Curiouser,” raised the level of playful absurdity to new heights. Here are some photo highlights from an enchanting week.

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Burning Man 2023

2023 was the year torrential rains flooded the Black Rock Desert. The news media sensationalized the story, but spirits on the ground remained high and the event carried on. Many said afterwards that it was a uniquely memorable week and one of the best burns ever. Read my live report in Forbes magazine or click below for the complete set of images.

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Burning Man 2022

Burning Man 2022 was dominated by intense winds, daylong whiteouts and triple-digit temperatures for much of the week. Equipment failed, activities were canceled, systems broke down, and many left early. While it was great to be back in Black Rock City after two years of pandemic-related cancelations, it was also a harsh reminder of how unforgiving the desert can be.

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Renegade Burn 2021

In 2021, Burning Man was canceled for the second year in a row due to the pandemic. But thousands of people flocked to the Black Rock Desert anyway for what turned out to be a huge free-form DIY gathering that—even without a wood-and-neon effigy to burn, large-scale art installations or much in the way of infrastructure, planning and organization—felt very much like the real thing.

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(Not) Burning Man 2020

Burning Man was canceled because of the pandemic, but some 3,500 people headed out to the desert anyway. The gathering offered a glimpse of what Burning Man might have been like in the early days before it became a thing. There were theme camps, artworks, mutant vehicles, and sunrise dance parties. But it was all self-organized, and free—no tickets required.

Burning Man 2019

For all the complaints about Burning Man going mainstream, about it being taken over by the rich and famous, and about it being ruined by Instagram and pesky “influencers,” 2019 turned out to be another banner year in Black Rock City. Along with a record number of art installations, it was a year of breathtaking performances, dreamy sunrise sets, and astonishing burns.

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Burning Man 2018

Every burn is special in its own way. But the consensus seems to be that 2018 was special in almost every way. There was a dramatic increase in the number and quality of the art installations. The playa was teeming with new and amazing art cars. The man and temple burns were spectacular. The people of Black Rock City were beautiful, brilliant and amazing. And the weather was nearly perfect.