Editor’s Pick: Eric Schwabel

Photo © Eric Schwabel

How could Eric Schwabel’s Burning Man portraits—shot with a custom portable rig he calls the “human light suit” (pictured below)—not draw attention? 

The portrait shooter’s quasi-supernatural esthetic, combined with his wildly dressed subjects, works perfectly for this project documenting the changing face of the great artistic gathering, which he began in 2010 and will continue through year 2020. 

As a die-hard studio shooter who avoids the hassle of a full-blown pop-up studio in Nevada’s sandy, arid Black Rock Desert, Schwabel creates and updates his light suit harness annually. Last year, he sewed strings of lights onto screens to make dust storm-resistant LED panels, allowing for some intriguing night shots. 

“I didn’t want to be just some dude with a camera and a light,” he says of his suit. “I wanted to be a creature of Burning Man.”

                                              Photo © Simeon Soffer

Schwabel’s put up a new Kickstarter project to fund his 2014 escapade—check it out here.

See this story in the digital edition.