Narine Atchabahian is the second-generation owner and operator of ARAX PRESS, an independent print shop and stationery store in Pasadena, California. Her first trip to Burning Man this past summer resulted in this photo series. Inspired by the alien culture that sojourns in Black Rock City, Nevada ever year during the summer solstice, the series focuses on the artwork created by drugged out neo-hippies and artists who burn in the dessert sun by day and burn alien art by night. Welcome home, to the dusty, surreal canvas called The Playa. E-mail her at narine@araxpress.com

My name is James Cagney.  I was born and raised in Oakland, California and am a writer, poet and performer.  I have appeared as a featured artist in many venues here in California at venues such as The Starry Plough in Berkeley, La Pena Cultural Center, Above Paradise lounge, Spasso's cafe, The Java House, Mahogany Restaurant, Joyce Gordons Art Gallery, and many more.  My work has allowed me to perform in Seattle Washington , Vancouver Canada, and Chicago Illinois,.  I've appeared in the show Four Brothers with Will Power, T'Kalla and Roger Robinson, and in Celebration of the Word with Maya Angelou and Quincy Troupe.  I have published four books of poetry-- including Transmitting The Disease of Poetry and the most current Hot Death.  My work has been published in Drumvoicesand Sussurrus.

Julie Chadwick rules!!! She is a musician, landscape designer, and artist who specializes in doing whatever the fuck she wants. A Boston transplant, she toured for years in a van and now lives in L.A. with her husband, a gaggle of cats and an overabundance of plants. She is currently plays guitar in the band Hello Dragon. myspace.com/hellodragonmusic

The World Famous Shaz Bennett (www.shazbennett.com) is a writer/filmmaker/performer/film programmer. Her films and performances pieces have been shown all over the US, Mexico and in Europe in film festivals, theatres, museums and abandoned warehouses. While living in New York in the early '90s she studied with Spaulding Gray and  wrote & performed four one-woman shows: "The Shaz Show," "Abrasive Fairy Tales," "Eyes, Lips, Legs," and "Hungover Angel." In addition to New York these shows have been performed extensively in Los Angeles, Chicago, Washington DC as part of several spoken word tours sponsored by MTV, Hennessey and NOW. She has written numerous short stories, several screenplays, and has developed a television pilot based on the material she performs. She is currently working on a book of essays from her unique point of view on the world. She wrote and starred in the award winning short films "Martini” and "Tunnels," an official selection of The Los Angeles Film Festival and Cinevegas. Her new film "Top of the Circle," screened at over 50 film festivals including, The Los Angeles Film Festival, The True West Cinema Festival, Silverdocs, and the short is currently traveling the country with Lunafest. Shaz has been working in and around film festivals for over 20 years. For the past seven years she has been the Senior Programmer at AFI FEST (The American Film Institute Los Angeles International Film Festival). She has also worked for the Los Angeles Film Festival and the San Francisco International Film Festival.  She lives in Silverlake, CA with her filmmaker/DJ boyfriend and their cat.