A waterfall in the desert

This series of photographs is from the Kunene region in Northern Namibia. It aims to depict the duality, contrast, beauty and drama of the Kaokovelt. It’s as if the Himba people have forged an aesthetic affiliation with the earth. They probably have ochre dust, rock, the baobab, a desert rose, communication, roof top tents, Captain Morgan? A waterfall in the desert?

An authentic indigenous lifestyle finds itself merging traditional culture and the opportunities presented by the modern world. Under 20 years the Kaokovelt was seldomly visited by outsiders. In the last two decades the current face of African technology, trade and tourism has opened and provided a conduit of modern innovations to the inhabitants and the landscape and the landscape of this area. Is the result the incomplete hybridization of an untouched African culture with the mainstream? A final frontier wildness untouched by diesel and track or an opportunity for all of us to touch our dreams?

The Epupa falls is a spectacular drop in Kunene River as it cuts its way west to the Atlantic Ocean. Tourists are drawn here for this spectacle, to appreciate the unique landscape of the Kaokovelt and to visit the Himba. All images were taken over a period of a weekend trip to Epupa Falls as a self drive tourist based out of Etosha. Cultural tourism networks in this area of Namibia are well established having come into being post Namibian independence. I was accompanied by local tour guides to the villages that I visited. Other portraits were taken from essentially stopping on the side of the road, people they were either going about their daily business or stationed selling curios Some subjects were paid, others not.