The first image has an interesting story. For the longest time, all Pip had was a crummy black-and-white censored version. He didn’t know what it was from, only that it was from a festival of some kind. He has a vague memory of the controversy over the image when it happened. At the time, he managed to scrape up that image somewhere and he held onto it for a long time. He had considered deleting it several times because he didn’t hold out much hope of identifying it and finding a decent version of it. A couple of days ago on a whim, he decided to Google Lincoln Clarkes’ name and found he finally has a website up. This is a new development because he checked many times over the years and has never found anything. As it turns out, the image comes from a series of women shot at the 1999 Burning Man festival. Pip feels he learned a lesson there, “never delete anything cool that you’re trying to find a better version of, because you never know when you might find what you’re looking for.”
Lincoln Clarkes – From series ‘Burning Man Women’ (1999)
The other Clarkes image is of Canadian entertainer Sheila McCarthy. Although the child isn’t identified, it has to be one of her two daughters, Mackenzie or Drew.
Lincoln Clarkes – Sheila McCarthy at home, Ontario, Canada (1990)
This weekend I was saddened to read of the death of Larry Harvey, one of the two original co-founders of Burning Man.
You know, it has been said that every time you look at a great work of art, you discover something that you had never noticed before.
That is what happened to me now when I looked again at the “Burning Man Women” picture. The cute beauty of that child seems to augmented by the fact that her legs look so white compared with the rest of her.
Apparently, around that time she had been in the habit of being topless outdoors, but not naked.
I am 100% certain that the whiteness on her legs is dust/dirt that’s been stirred up from running or play and not her skin tone. It’s exactly the same shade as the dirt their standing on. Besides, if it were the case, then her entire lower abdomen below the waist would be the same shade, not just her legs.
I think you’re right.
It never would have occurred to me to check the color of the ground.
Does anybody know if the Burning Man image here is included in any printed BOOKS?
I have a book by him entitled “Images”, but that picture is not in it.
I think the confidence and attitude displayed by the girl is wonderful, and it seems like being around examples of adults behaving as adults without much censorship isn’t harming her, and it may be fun for her see and to some degree imitate.
You mention the consideration of what kids should be seeing in the Maiden Voyages post of Jan. 2016, and that could be the basis for much discussion, but as long as people aren’t drunk (or high) and unpleasant, then I think it doesn’t have to be a negative thing if children see adults partying.
Of course, I don’t know if my interpretation of the image is accurate. It may be that the festival experience was at other times overwhelming, and that strangers partying around her was too much.
The comments on Lincoln Clarkes’ website (http://worldwidegreeneyes.com/burning-man-women-nevada-1999/683/) alternate between negative and positive. I don’t have experience or much knowledge of Burning Man, and some comments say that that isn’t a good place to bring kids, so I don’t know if they’re right. For what I see on the photo, there’s no reason for any shame.
From what I gather, Burning Man is about alternatives in lifestyle and culture. There are many events that take place, so some may be more positive and some negative. (One event is a 50K Ultramarathon.) Also, putting forth alternatives is always a challenge to the status quo and those who uphold it. For most people, the standard of what is healthy or unhealthy is inextricably linked to their own upbringing. And for many, any expression of sexuality is a sin and there is no form that is healthy (which gets us entangled into the notion of innocence), let alone what a child might observe or express.
Despite the NAME of this series of photos, I am wondering if they were all actually shot at the Burning Man Festival itself.
That is because more than once over the years, I have seen discussions about that photo in particular, and how it came from a “Sexual Awareness Day” event at some campus.
Those discussions included references to a woman wearing a “breast-baring” outfit, with her daughter who was wearing only shoes. So it is obviously THIS picture that was being discussed.
P.S. Allow me to add that IT IS a very beautiful picture, regardless of its specific origin.
As someone who has attended festivals and conferences: 1) Sexual Awareness Day could simply have been a workshop that was a part of the festival or, more likely, 2) the photo may simply have been used as an illustration and had no direct connection to the festival itself (academic institutions are allowed to use copyrighted materials for educational purposes without the artist’s consent). I can’t understand why you would question the artist’s memory, especially since he was able to cite a specific year.