Notes on Kite Aerial Photography: Photo Gallery
Ground-level and aerial views of the big circular tent that marked Center Camp . The aerial
view was taken during a period of blowing dust (Canon G1 left and Canon 24-mm
right, August 2001).
The main axis of Black Rock City runs along the axis from 6 o'clock to noon, In
this schema the 'man' is located the center hub. Down toward the intersection of
6 o'clock and Esplanade is a facility known as Center Camp. Here they had live
music, massages, and one of two items for sale at Burning Man -- coffee (the
other was ice.) Every time I went to Center Camp I kept expecting expecting to
see Mel Gibson in full Mad Max regalia. The structure itself was a large
tent-like affair made of canvas and steel cable. Check Bob
Stahl's website for a description of its history and construction. The perimeter was open and
crowds flowed in and out of this permeable edge.
A
diagram of the 2001 Black Rock City main axis courtesy of the Burning Man
Planning Department. I've added blue labels to locate:
1) six o'clock in the geographic schema,
2) twelve o'clock,
3) the 'Man',
4) Center Camp, and
5) my home base at the Department of Tethered Aviation
Closer views of the Center Camp tent oculus (Canon 24-mm, August 2001)
During one of my afternoon shoots I was able to get the camera out over the Center Camp structure. I sent a volunteer inside to see if he could get a group of occupants to gaze upward. This strategy did not seem to produce much of an effect. At that point in time I had not spent any time in the structure so I did not have a grasp of how pleasant a form the tension cables created at the oculus until the photographs came back. Had I known I would have worked on it a bit more. Incidentally, there must be something in the air regarding KAP photography of round structures. Simon Harbord's most recent photo postings feature a Moscow State Circus tent and a round structure housing the Macduff Aquarium.
A low-level aerial view of the Esplanade and a ground view of my humble camp at
the Department of Tethered Aviation (Canon 24-mm, August 2001)
The Esplanade, pictured above, served as the main street for Black Rock City. Here we were lucky for our camp
at the Department of Tethered Aviation was located directly on the Esplanade. I
spent many a pleasant hour watching the flaneurs of Burning Man stroll past our
spot. It was pleasantly reminiscent of having a front porch.
Three shots of Black Rock City including a view of the Center Camp tent with
bicycles, a clear day shot with stage in foreground and mountain range beyond,
and an early-morning aerial view of the Department of Tethered Aviation (Canon 24-mm,
August 2001)
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All rights reserved. Revised: Tuesday, October 09, 2001
URL: http://arch.ced.berkeley.edu/kap/gallery/gal189.html
