The Story Behind Faces

The story behind faces

It was at Burning Man an event held annually in the Black Rock Desert about 100 miles north of Reno Nevada that I rediscovered my passion for photography and especially photographing faces.
It was a wild idea spawned by my neighbors to attend the event filled with unimaginable art and creativity. The plan was to go with a friend of my age as my wife had no interest in camping in the open desert with all of the alkaline dust. I purchase a 1990 Ford Searcher RV and began the renovation process which was more involved than anticipated. The over cab section of the Class C vehicle was rotten to the frame.
Well my friend had miscalculated the date of his trip to France so I was alone for the journey. My wife said “go you will meet people and have fun”.
I posted on Burning Man ride share and met Diane and Riki who were going to practice self-reliance and live on peanut butter sandwiches. They along with Jacques who flew into Portland and rode with us and Nuria who flew in from Barcelona and met up with us on the Playa, stayed in the RV. We also had two additional riders, Aaron and Belinda who rode with us but camped nearby.
I did not want my quests to feel obligated to hang with me just because they were staying in the RV and I said that they were under no obligation to do so and that they were free to do whatever they please without my presence. They insisted that I join them and the one of events we shared was an Indian Wedding Ceremony. Gifting to the Goddess involved starring into their eyes for a prolong period of time while making the offering. During this time there was a connection made which enabled me to get in touch with their emotions and feel their joy and sorrow. It was then that I developed a fascination for faces and specifically eyes that were the pathway to the heart.
I want to share my fascination with faces that I captured at my first Burning Man event in 2014. Behind each face is a story, a moment shared, meeting someone from another corner of the world, a second’s glance into another’s life. Please enjoy the joy and sorrow depicted in the many faces contained in this collection.