Psychedelic Photographs From Burning Man 2012

Radical, revolutionary and just downright ridiculous, the annual Burning Man festival in Nevada's Black Rock Desert (or "the playa" as it is called) is one of the most mysterious and mind-bending festival experiences anywhere in the world.

For one week over the Labor Day weekend in August/September tens of thousands of curious backpackers and new age hippies come together to create the temporary metropolis of Black Rock City, a psychedelic celebration of alternative art, community, self-expression and the creativity of the human spirit.

Beginning in 1986 on San Francisco's Baker Beach where a few mates burnt a wooden effigy of a man, Burning Man is now a cultural phenomenon like no other with the eclectic mix of body art, DIY sculptures and revelrous bicycle-riders fused together only by a deep sense of mutual respect and this year's deliberately ambiguous theme of "Fertility 2.0".

While the yearly ritual of burning a giant wooden effigy remains a constant, the festival otherwise seems to defy any simple definition or explanation and, until you have experienced it for yourself, attempting to describe Burning Man is "like trying to explain what a particular color looks like to someone who is blind" according to the event organisers.

So as long as language remains insufficient, here is a photographic tour through the intoxicating world of Burning Man 2012.

The 60,000 person metropolis of Black Rock City

The famous bicycle-riding culture of Burning Man includes bikes of all sizes

Personal expression is not just encouraged but a mandatory component of Burning Man

The otherworldly Cloud 9

A laser light show

The sky is literally the limit for Burning Man participants

Dreamtime Circus light up the stage with their fire twirling performance

As the sun goes down, the festival goers get ready to fire up

Aerialist Indi-Lou stuns the Crowd with her lyra act

This spiralling art installation really gets the party blazing

The only thing Burning here is Indigo's throat after the infamous drinking games