In his 17 year history of participating in and photographing the annual Burning Man festival, Henry Mah has revelled in the sensuous and transcendental experiences that define the transitory desert community that comes together each year as Black Rock City. Mah’s ongoing collection of photographs from Burning Man evidence the drama, ingenuity and surreal beauty of the countercultural phenomenon where freedom and creative self-expression are essential principles. Mah marries a formalist artistic sensibility with the anything goes attitude of the festival as he chronicles the ‘burner’ community and a range of extraordinary ephemeral experiences. His images of a would-be bride wearing a diaphanous and dusty dress, a free spirited woman riding a stuffed unicorn and a stilt-walking cowboy making his way across the vast playa showcase the expressive individuality of Burning Man participants. And his evocative group scenes evidence the ecstasy and exhaustion that ebb and flow through the week-long event. Using only natural light or set against a blackened sky illuminated by various light installations, Mah’s work feels raw, intimate and revelatory. A cavalcade of so many small epiphanies happening on a big stage. In one image, a man sits butt naked surveying the desert scene before him, appearing like a sentinel or mystic shaman as he takes in the otherworldly transformation of this once empty expanse. And every year Mah adds to the transcendental energy of the playa through his dj sets and self-created soundscapes. For Mah, Burning Man is an opportunity for artistic exploration, personal enlightenment, community building and a radical reinvention of the world in positive ways.