Being back at Burning Man in 2008 was something I had known would have special meaning for me, and that certain parts of it would
be rituals of deep personal significance. Being present at the Temple burn was one of those.
I didn't try to take great photos of the Temple burning. I just wanted to take a couple of shots of it that were my own. I think I took
four pictures through the whole thing. I wasn't really using the right film, the right lens for it, and that didn't particularly matter to me.
This shot is the first of the four I took, the best of them, just as the bulk of the structure was taken by the fire.
As I watched the burn, I was watching for the life of this fire as I've never done before. Seen it in the photographs, yes, but never
before watched for it to show itself to me as it burned. It wasn't something really seen stopped by the eye, but more by the consciousness,
seen because I was looking for it. As the fire engulfed the building, pulled by the wind, there was a very large creature flying out. That's
what I could see and feel.
And though he isn't super clear in this photo, there is indeed a very big dragon, almost the size of the building itself, flying away to the
right. I can see his head, and the crossing diagonals of his wingspan and tail.