BURNING MAN
I’ve been documenting the art and culture of Burning Man for the better part of two decades. My images from the event have been widely published, appearing in newspapers and magazines worldwide. My photography book Burning Man: Art on Fire, a collaboration with Jennifer Raiser and Sidney Erthal, was first published by Quarto in 2014 and updated in 2016. It inspired a full-length documentary film by the same name in 2020. The book will be published in a newly revised and expanded Third Edition in July 2023.
VANISHING OASIS
The Salton Sea has become one of the most vexing and complicated environmental problems in the American West. The lake is drying up. The fish are dying. The air is hazardous to breathe. And the once-thriving communities and tourist resorts along the shore are mostly abandoned. These photographs of the Salton Sea originated as a series for the San Diego Natural History Museum in 2008. I have continued to document the decline of the sea since then, turning the series into a long-term documentary project that now spans almost two decades.
PAINTED DESERT
Commissioned by Arizona’s Mesa Arts Center, the Painted Desert series grew out of a conceptual art project combining photography, costume design and immersive theater. Working with the Phoenix-based Vessel Project, I created a series of photographs of elaborately costumed figures against the backdrop of Arizona’s majestic Painted Desert. The photographs were presented as part of an interactive performance piece in front of a live audience at several venues in Arizona, including the Spark Festival in Mesa, the Public Art Program in Glendale, and the Phoenix Art Museum.
THE NOBEL PEACE PRIZE
The Nobel Peace Prize is widely regarded as the most prestigious award in the world. I started covering the subject in the 1990s, first as a radio and print journalist and later as a photographer. I have covered the award ceremonies and other Nobel-related events in Oslo, Norway, on a regular basis since 2001. These photographs capture some of the highlights.
ON THE OSCAR TRAIL
Santa Barbara’s annual film festival, which runs from the end of January through the first week of February, has become one of the better-known events of its kind in America and a critical stop for actors on the Oscar trail. For Academy Award-contenders, an appearance in Santa Barbara can not only generate valuable publicity but improve the odds of a big win at the Oscars.
I MADONNARI
I Madonnari was the name given to street painters in 16th- and 17th-century Italy, itinerant artists who traveled from town to town and city to city rendering images of the Madonna on sidewalks and in public squares. The tradition of street painting lives on in cities across Europe and in a growing number of communities in North America. When I Madonnari got its start in 1987, it was the first event of its kind in the United States.
Copyright 2023 by Scott London. All rights reserved.