Lyon, Danny. Burn Zone by Danny Lyon. Signed.

Black Beauty Books, 2016. Softcover, as issued. [Photographs of the Rio Grand Valley in New Mexico, accompanied by an essay and a list of "climate criminals" in 50 states by Josephine Ferorelli. SIGNED. As new.  

Danny Lyon (b. 1942) is a landmark American photographer, filmmaker, and pioneer of "New Journalism" photography,celebrated for his immersive, participant-observer approach to social documentary. Raised in Queens, New York, Lyon studied history at the University of Chicago before becoming the first official photographer for the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) in 1962, capturing pivotal Civil Rights Movement sit-ins and marches across the American South. Rather than remaining an detached observer, Lyon embedded himself within his subjects' subcultures,producing groundbreaking photobooks such as The Bikeriders (1968)—for which he rode with the Chicago Outlaws Motorcycle Club—and Conversations with the Dead (1971), an unflinching, intimate look inside the Texas prison system created with the full cooperation of incarcerated men. Over a career spanning more than six decades, Lyon has complemented his stills with documentary films and memoirs, earning multiple Guggenheim Fellowships and National Endowment for the Arts grants, with his works held in major permanent collections worldwide including the Museum of Modern Art, the Whitney Museum of American Art, and the Art Institute of Chicago.

Burn Zone is a 2016 photo-essay book and activist manifesto by legendary American documentary photographer Danny Lyon. Self-published through his own imprint, Bleak Beauty Books, the 54-page publication marks a distinct shift in Lyon’s storied career, pivoting from his historic 1960s focus on human civil rights to a contemporary battle for environmental survival.

Core Focus & Narrative

• Ecological Witnessing: The book serves as a firsthand record of the accelerating ecological collapse within the Rio Grande Valley in New Mexico, an area where Lyon has lived off and on since 1970.

• The Las Conchas Fire: Central to the book’s imagery are Lyon's stark black-and-white photographs of the aftermath of the 2011 Las Conchas fire—at the time, the largest wildfire in New Mexico's history. Lyon famously drove his truck directly into the smoldering "burn zone," capturing devastated, ash-covered landscapes that he compared to a war zone.

• The Human Toll: Alongside the burning of national forests, the narrative chronicles the visible impacts of global warming on his own smallholding, detailing drying river levels, rising temperatures, and relentless drought.

Activist Edge & The "Climate Criminals" List

• 60s-Style Protest: Lyon explicitly approaches climate change with the same radical, direct-action mentality he used as a Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) photographer during the Civil Rights Movement. He views Burn Zone as a cri de coeur (passionate appeal) urging artists and youth to aggressively join the climate fight.

• Naming and Shaming: Moving beyond a typical artistic lament, Lyon collaborated with climate activist Josephine Ferorelli to include a highly confrontational "Climate Criminals" list at the back of the book. The section profiles 50 powerful individuals heavily funded by the fossil fuel industry, publishing their names, alleged actions, and direct corporate or public contact information (including phone numbers and email addresses) to encourage public accountability.