Kolmanskop, Namibia
Photograph by Chris Gray Kolmanskop, Namibia. Kolmanskop is an abandoned diamond mine near the coast. The "ghost" town has several residences and barrack-type accommodations, as well as the remains of a few commercial establishments. Today the town is a photographer's dream come true. One cannot spend enough time taking in all the photographic opportunities. For this photograph I had to crawl through a small opening in a window and have my friend pass my camera gear into me.
—Caption by Chris Gray
Dancing Bushmen, Namibia, 2001
Photograph by Chris Johns Southern Africa's San Bushmen, like these youth dancing at Namibia's Nyae Nyae Conservancy, are among the most intensively studied aboriginal people on Earth. Interest in this culture is stoked by the idea that the Bushmen are one of our last connections with a hunter-gatherer existence, a way of life that was a human universal until some 10,000 years ago. (Photo shot on assignment for, but not published in, "Bushmen: Last Stand for Southern Africa's First People," February 2001, National Geographic magazine)
Resting Bushman, Tsumkwe, Namibia, 2001
Photograph by Chris Johns Bushmen, like this hunter resting in Tsumkwe, Namibia, have had a key advantage over other early societies: their ability to survive without surface water. They know where to find liquid-bearing melons and tubers. They also bury ostrich eggs filled with water during the wet season and recover them later, during the dry. This arcane knowledge allows the Bushmen to live where others could not. (Photo shot on assignment for, but not published in, "Bushmen: Last Stand for Southern Africa's First People," February 2001, National Geographic magazine)
Fossil Mold, Aus, Namibia, 1998
Photograph by O. Louis Mazzatenta A paleontologist in Aus, Namibia, makes a mold of a Pteridinium by brushing multiple layers of latex on the fossil. Though their remains are common in many parts of the world, much about these and other similar Precambrian life forms has puzzled scientists, including whether they were plants, animals, or something in between. (Photo shot on assignment for, but not published in, "Life Grows Up," April 1998, National Geographic magazine)
Swakopmund Dune Fields, Namibia, 2000
Photograph by Cary Wolinsky Wind-sculpted dunes sprawl across the Sesriem and Sossusvlei dune area in Namibia's Namib Desert. The Namib is a cool, coastal desert that roughly translates to "an area where there is nothing" in the Nama language. It is known for its dramatic dunes, including the crescent-shaped barchan dunes shown here, some of which can reach 100 feet (30 meters) high and 1,200 feet (370 meters) wide. (Photo shot on assignment for, but not published in, "New Eyes on the Oceans," October 2000, National Geographic magazine)
Trekking the Namib Desert, Namibia, 1998
Photograph by O. Louis Mazzatenta Alone in a vast expanse of sand, a man treks across giant dunes in Namibia's Namib Desert. One of the driest places on Earth, the Namib necessitates resourceful adaptations. Snakes, spiders, beetles, and lizards can survive here only because fog delivers a wisp of vital moisture as it rolls in from the ocean most nights. (Photo shot on assignment for, but not published in, "Life Grows Up," April 1998, National Geographic magazine)
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