“Controlled Burn” is by Kevin Cooley. Valley News/Courtesy photo
The devastation, behavior and intensity of California wildfires are captured in a series of vivid images that are on display in Riverside, starting Feb. 22, as part of the California Museum of Photography’s “Facing Fire: Art, Wildfire and the End of Nature in the New West” exhibit.“In California, fire is omnipresent,” curator Douglas McCulloh said. “We live in an ecosystem built to burn and burn explosively. But beyond that, fire carries layers of meaning. It’s mankind’s central metaphor. Fire is passion and punishment. It’s the spark of inspiration and the blaze of anger, the cooking hearth and the apocalypse. Humanity is linked to fire, and we are deeply fascinated by it.”“Burned Joshua Tree, Er
