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Desert Sands Reclaim Abandoned Mining Towns in Africa
School Classroom, Kolmanskop, Namibia, 2013
Melbourne-based photographer Christopher Rimmer explores abandoned mining towns disappearing beneath the African sands. Sign of Life is the documentation of Elizabeth Bay and Kolmanskop, locations made wealthy by the discovery of diamond deposits in 1905. From local hospitals and ballrooms, to the first x-ray in the western hemisphere, these small towns were symbols of prosperity and growth. After World War II, diamonds were found more plentiful elsewhere and the last resident moved away in 1951. Rimmer shows us what is left of these monuments of progress, now crumbling and strangely ancient. Sign of Life is a melancholic dreamland of a civilization already made a ghost by time, nature slowly devouring what was not so long ago.
Bedroom Door, Elizabeth Bay, Namibia, 2013
The Hospital, Kolmanskop, Namibia, 2013
Town Planner’s Residence, Kolmanskop, Namibia, 2013
School Building, Kolmanskop, Namibia, 2013
Main Living Room, Hospital Matron’s Quarters, Kolmanskop, Namibia, 2013
This post was contributed by photographer and Feature Shoot Editorial Assistant Jenna Garrett.
