Comments on: Photography is My Gift to the Community

By: Alkaline Diet

Alkaline Diet — Fri, 22 Jul 2011 01:47:05 +0000

Thanks for this informative post. i just hope many could read this for them to know.

By: Organic Food

Organic Food — Wed, 01 Jun 2011 04:25:56 +0000

Thank you for this amazing report. It was very helpful to me and to the one who read this page. You truly is a true writer!

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By: Thomas Morgan

Thomas Morgan — Mon, 08 Nov 2010 03:31:56 +0000

I’m a 54 year old BM Virgin, but have decided to participate in 2011.

Much of the culture at BM is totally opposite to what i’ve exposed myself to. I’m looking forward to, hopefully, having the white-guy-conservative-fundamentalist stick taken out of my ass by embracing the diversity at BRC.

Having said that; in the year that i’ve studied this event, the one single objection i’ve had has to do with the idea of BM owning my photographs! True, i’m not a pro, hell, i’m not even that good a photographer… but it still seems to grate against the apparent philosophy of what BM is all about!

What is it about being photographed that bothers some as opposed to simply being seen? Sure, a photograph is ‘forever’, but so is the memory of people viewing you. For example, if you are walking about butt-naked, why is it that having your photo snapped is taboo, but people ogling you isn’t?

You came, in part, to be seen, right? Your visual presentation is your contribution to the whole, is it not? I’d think that folks would be proud that whatever their visual contribution to the experience was warranted as worthy of being photographed..

anyway – looking forward to making the trek next year.

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By: John

John — Fri, 24 Sep 2010 17:03:48 +0000

I should add that I’m Canadian, and we come at things differently than Americans. You guys are all “Life Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness”, whereas we’re all “Peace, Order and Good Government.” Arguable that means we’re not as “free”, but hey, it works pretty well, and we have plenty of “preverted arts” up here.

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By: John

John — Fri, 24 Sep 2010 17:01:00 +0000

“We are not silent observers — voyeurs — sneaking through the event and surreptitiously taking photos that magically appear on the internet later; no, we interact with our subjects”

I don’t think you are in position to speak on behalf of all photographers at Burning Man. There is no “we”, because while your personal agenda might be participatory, it’s very clear that there are numerous others who seek to exploit Burners and profit from their choice to expose themselves. Personally, I really appreciate the gift photographers give to the community. I haven’t been able to attend the festival for a few years now, and I hang on every shot. But I don’t really see how the current restrictions hamper photogs all that much. You can after all, shoot pretty much whatever you want, post those photos in public forums, and even sell the shots with permission (with those proceeds going back into the event itself).

I will admit to being uncomfortable with the restrictions, and I even think they are a bit hypocritical, but lets face it, if this were opened up, and suddenly there was a billion gorgeous tits plastered all over the internet, you can kiss the festival as you know it goodbye. You wouldn’t be able to ride your bike without running into some asshole throwing shitty beads at women right left and centre. We can’t pretend this isn’t the case. This is, after all, the United States of America, and candid shots of gorgeous boobs is a commodity.

So given a choice between photographers being able to sell shots to the media freely (even with the best of intentions) which would also open it up to those with the worst of intentions vs telling you that you have to go through a process… then I’m okay with the restrictions, and will gladly live with the label of hypocrite.

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By: The Blight - Photography by Neil Girling » On the ground in the dirt — Burning Man 2010

Wed, 15 Sep 2010 12:38:30 +0000

[...] In case you’re curious why I do what I do, I wrote a piece for the Burning Blog here — Photography is My Gift to the Community. [...]

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By: Ned Thanhouser

Ned Thanhouser — Wed, 08 Sep 2010 18:19:08 +0000

Great post, Neil…I agree with your sentiments and this dialog needs to expand to include audio as well…this year I used a TASCAM recorder to get a soundscape to add another dimension to my images to share with friends for non-commercial uses…same rules apply regarding capture, I was careful to ask before recording and in only one instance was asked not to record…I personally have a problem with the BM claiming ownership to the images (and perhaps audio recordings?) that I take. This is counter to US copyright laws where the photographer owns the image. This makes BM an isolated island…clearly protecting individual privacy is a concern, but people who attend are adult and know they are exposing themselves (both literally and figuratively) when they come to BM…why should BM treat these images any differently than a photographer capturing an image of a streaker at a football game other than its motivation to protect corporate assets…this seems to be at odds with the BM philosophy…let the debate continue…

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By: olivegarden

olivegarden — Sun, 15 Aug 2010 20:06:48 +0000

Great writing, Neil !

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By: Eva Campbell

Eva Campbell — Thu, 12 Aug 2010 10:36:14 +0000

Camera phones are in great demand these days, i own at least two of them`~”

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By: Homiesinheaven

Homiesinheaven — Fri, 30 Jul 2010 18:40:43 +0000

great writing Neal. i have always enjoyed your BM Flickr sets and applaud you for using the Creative Commons license. too many BM photogs on Flickr anxiously hoard their pictures with the All Rights Reserved option, only allowing low resolution viewing or worse, covering all of their shots with big ugly watermarks. this attitude always reeks of desperately wanting artistic validation and attention when the images should speak for themselves.

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