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From: London, UK
Image credit: Toufic Beyhum, Supermarket, Himba, 2012
Photographer description: The small seaside resort of Swakopmund lies on the coast of Namibia. It was established in 1892 as the main harbour for Namibia’s German colonizers, and still bears the marks of those years of German rule. For much of the year, Swakopmund lies silently shrouded in fog. But in the summer, the fog lifts, and the tourists flock, drawn to the grand hotels, the moody beach and the bustling cafes. The population is a colourful mix of retired Germans, young natives living in housing projects just outside the main village, and the Himba tribes people who have trekked down from the north, dressed in traditional garb and selling self-made jewellery crafted from found objects. Its uniqueness lies in the massive dunes that line the coast, the rusted wrecks of ships stranded in the desert off the Skeleton Coast; the bright paint work on the houses and the evocativeness of the Himba tribeswomen walking topless through German supermarkets. There’s no other town quite like it.
