85 Burning Man Photos That’ll Blow Your Mind

Burning Man is so unique that it’s difficult to find the right words to describe it. It’s a global culture, a way of living and a thriving city that participants build from scratch every year in late August.

But it’s also much more than any of these descriptors suggest. The best way to understand its principles of self-expression, creativity and community — besides attending in person, of course — is to see it depicted in photos or videos.

Burning Man returned in 2022 after a two-year hiatus, thanks to the pandemic. To say it was a hot (and pricey!) ticket to visit Black Rock City is an understatement. That’s why some of us simply have to settle for these mindblowing images that provide another way to experience the otherworldly beauty and core tenets of this truly singular event.

The central fixture of Burning Man is “The Man” himself, a towering sculpture with a triangular-shaped face that’s ceremonially burned at the end of each event. 

The first sculpture was built in 1986 by Larry Harvey and Jerry James out of scrap wood, and was torched on Baker Beach in San Francisco.

That inaugural year, the sculpture was 8-feet tall. In more recent years, it’s reached nearly 40 feet in height.

The first year the wooden sculpture was set ablaze, about 10 bystanders were present. More than three decades later, things have changed. 

This 2019 image shows “The Man” burning in the distance, with hundreds of cars and thousands of people gathered around it.

In 1990, after four years at Baker Beach, Burning Man organizers were told that their ritual could cause a wildfire. So the group decided to relocate to the Black Rock Desert, northeast of Reno, Nevada.

The first year the burgeoning festival was held in the desert, it welcomed 90 attendees.

Aside from a brief stint at nearby Fly Ranch, Black Rock Desert has been the home of the event ever since, setting the scene with its stark and striking backdrop.

These days, the desert welcomes some 80,000 Burning Man participants each year with hundreds of quirky sculptures like this from the 2022 event.