Kolmanskop - Silent journey through time to Namibia's ghost town by Fototante

About "Kolmanskop - Silent journey through time to Namibia's ghost town"

by Fototante

About the artwork

Lost in the vast nothingness of the Namibian desert lies Kolmanskop - once a thriving diamond town, now an abandoned ghost town that is being reclaimed by the wind and sand. This picture shows one of the former residential buildings, through whose broken windows and open doors the desert sand has pushed itself metres high. What was once inhabited by people is now a stage for nature.

The scenery is quiet - and yet full of history. Time seems to flow through the open rooms as if it had been left behind. The paint on the walls is peeling, the wood is weathered grey, the plaster is falling from the ceiling - and yet you can sense that this was once a home. The windows are open, but no one comes in. Only the wind that carries the sand and carves its own path.

Kolmanskop was built during the German colonial era and was once a prosperous settlement with a hospital, school, casino and electric tram. Within a few decades, the town grew - and was abandoned just as quickly. Today it is a symbol of rise and fall, of greed and transience. The decay is omnipresent - but also of peculiar beauty. The sand turns walls into landscapes, rooms into memories.

Photographically, this motif lives from the interplay of light and shadow, straight lines and organic shapes. The view through the window leads into another room in which light refracts on the sand. The composition evokes associations: Escape, return, transformation.

This picture is suitable for rooms where reflection and depth are welcome - living rooms, surgeries, libraries, galleries or studios. It speaks of becoming and passing away - and of how nature quietly outlasts us.