Erin, tell us about how your Black Burner Project came about.
I went to my first Burning Man in 2017 and I knew I wasn't going to see a lot of people of color. I was very nervous leading up to it and was very desirous to find a personal color to just ask some questions … I just needed to know that it was going to be OK and to ask some questions about my hair. I finally found someone and it was really hard but they gave me the OK, and for some reason I was able to relax. After that first year, I posted photos and had an influx of people reach out to me, curious about Burning Man or expressing how they had known about it but never saw a person of color so they never really explored their curiosity because it didn't look like the space for them. I saw that there was curiosity for people of color and because there was no representation of us, it actually impacted people not going, and in turn people weren't having these transformative experiences that so many of us have been blessed to have.
I've never done a personal project like this before so I didn't really know where it could go, but it came from my desire to show the world that Burning Man is for everyone. It’s about people of color showing up for Google searches, it’s about inspiring people to travel and try something outside the box, it’s about inclusivity mattering everywhere, it’s about sharing amazing stories, it’s about being seen. This is all to inspire more people (especially people of color) to explore the idea of attending Burning Man, but more importantly to inspire those who haven’t had the opportunity to travel at all or often, to do so - ASAP!! I was nervous about it, because it was outside the box for me. I knew I wanted it to be bigger than my IG and I just went for it.
You started the Project last year with a group photo turn out of about 25 and this year that number soared to almost 300. Tell us about the journey.
2018 was amazing. I was meeting a lot of people and taking photos of them. I didn't even know until I started editing photos if I had captured anything worthwhile. This year, I knew where I wanted to go with it and people had found out about it.