Desert Dunes: Photography in the African Sands
by Albert Knapp, MD & Ruth Oratz, MD
When we think of deserts we see wide open empty expanses of flat dust and sand, no break on the horizon, no sign of life. Unbearable heat. Smoldering sun. Void. Geologically, deserts are dry land masses, where more water is lost by evapotranspiration than falls as precipitation. While sparsely populated by humans and other species, deserts are full of an endless variety of shapes, colors, forms, spaces, shadows, lines, texture, pattern and light. Perhaps most seductive and inviting about deserts are the ubiquitous dunes.
ERG ZHAR, MOROCCO. Leica Vario-Elmar-S 30-90mm f/5.6 ASPH at 90mm, ISO 200, f/9.5 at 1/500 sec.
Desert photography presents its own particular challenges including judicious lens selection, exposure compensation and constant protec-tion from dust and sand. I brought my two Leica S (Typ 006) bodies and used the 30-90mm f/5.6 ASPH and the 120mm APO-MACRO f/2.5 almost exclusively. I never changed lenses while out in the desert as this is tanta-mount to camera suicide, given all the dust and sand. When I knew beforehand that an extreme wide angle lens would be needed, I would opt while in the protected confines of our closed tent or vehicle for my 24mm f/3.5 ASPH. With white sand, exposure com-pensation was a must and I was governed by my histogram. In addition, I found Storm Jackets to be an excellent first line of defense against the elements and always used B&W UV F-PRO filters for protection.
Large accumulations of windblown sand pile up vertically in mounds forming dunes, solitary or more commonly grouped together in fields. When extensive these are called sand seas or ergs. The characteristics of prevailing winds, determine the shape of dunes, creating the sexy curvy S, long straight linear ridges, sharp slopes, star formations, vertiginous parabolas, soft mounded domes.
The African continent is one fourth desert and about one fourth of the desert is dunes. The Sahara is the largest sand desert on the planet, at over 9,400,000 km2 (3,600,000 mi2) stretching from the Atlantic Ocean to the Red Sea, and covering most of North Africa. Morocco abuts the western edge of the Sahara which is rich in variegated dunes. Sand creeps into every crack and crevice, between our toes, in the folds of our clothes, stuck to eyelashes and in the workings of the cameras. What can we make of these dunes, their immensity, the shapes, curves, sharp shadows and deep dark places, soft rolling convexities and concavities? The sigma, the S curve, the sinuous line leading to the eruption of a single cloud above the vertex. Can we keep the horizon straight or should we just lose it in the swirls of shape? Eyes fatigue, bodies tire, minds numb. It is said that entering the Sahara is a baptism of solitude.
ERG CHIGAGA MOROCCO. Leica Vario-Elmar-S 30-90mm f/5.6 ASPH at 90mm, ISO 200, f/6.8 at 1/500 sec.
SOSSUSVLEI, NAMIBIA. Balloon Flight Preparation at Dawn. Leica APO-Macro-Summarit-S 120 mm, f/2.5, ISO 200, f/4.8 at 1/90 sec.
We wander in and around the desert, squinting at the sun and staring at the stars. This is the enchantment of the desert in Morocco.
A few months later we are back to Africa, now to the southwest Atlantic Coast, to Namibia, and the great Namib Desert. While the Sahara is the largest, the Namib is the oldest desert in Africa. The dunes here are the tallest in the world, reaching over 300 m (1100 ft). Our journey begins in Sossusvlei, an arid salt and clay pan surrounded by stunning red dunes. The name itself is a blend of the peoples and events which have shaped the history of this remote dry country. “Sossus” the Nama word for “no return” and vlei, Afrikaans meaning “marsh”. This region has been long inhabited by the San, the Darmara and the Nama people, then colonized by Germans and British, now an independent republic. It is sparsely populated with barely two million people in an area of 825,615 km2 (318,772 mi2). The majestic red dunes of Sossusvlei, seen from a helicopter, glisten in the sunrise and glow at day’s end.
At Deadvlei, petrified acacia trees stand haunted and haunting where a long ago river has since evaporated, leaving only these eerie forms casting shadows against the dunes, shifting with the light.
DEADVLEI, SOSSUSVLEI, NAMIBIA. Petrified Acadia Trees. Leica Vario-Elmar-S 30-90mm f/5.6 ASPH at 90mm, ISO 200, f/9.5 at 1/250 sec.
SOSSUSVLEI, NAMIBIA. Red Dunes. Leica Vario-Elmar-S 30-90mm f/5.6 ASPH at 30mm, ISO 400, f/3.5 at 1/3000 sec.
We travel up the coast, the whole of Namibia’s coast, 2000 km (1250 mi) is desert. It is the Skeleton Coast, forbidding and bleak, littered with shipwrecks and skeletons, of those who have dared to land here. Coastal gusts blow and blow sand creating more dunes as we travel even further north. In the distance one is lost in undulations sculpted by wind.
The Kunene River provides respite, but just steps away the harsh desert overtakes all. The heat is torrid, the sun is burning and the sand is pearly white. The Serra Cafema dune field is immense. We wander for hours amongst the soft rolling white mounds, late afternoon shadows create surrealistic images, tricking the eye, playing mind games.
Somehow this journey ends and we must fly back. In the air again we look down on Damaraland. Dome shaped granite outcrops are violet and indigo. Traces of rivulets and streams etch the stone. It is our last glimpse of the desert, of dunes and African sands.
SERRA CAFEMA, NAMIBIA. White Dunes. Leica Vario-Elmar-S 30-90mm f/5.6 ASPH at 36mm, ISO 400, f/8 at 1/500 sec.
DAMARALAND, NAMIBIA. BLUE MOUNTAINS. Leica APO-Macro-Summarit-S 120mm f/2.5, ISO 400, f/2.5 at 1/400 sec.