A photograph holds a lot of information. Details like time of day, season, political happenings, era, age of a person and loads more can be deduced by looking at a picture more closely. These days, digital photos hold even more information, such as a timestamp, GPS coordinates where the image was taken, the photographer’s name and more, all of it contained in the metadata of each file. One thing, however, that is impossible to deduce from a photo is the feeling of the photographer. The time of place and mood at that exact moment will only ever be known by that one person and whoever else shared the moment with him or her.
Taking the above into consideration, I was discussing my recent trip to the Kaokoveld with a colleague, and we also talked about how difficult it was for her to put her impressions of this special place into words. I immediately realised that I would have the same problem. How do you describe a place like the Marienfluss, an expansive valley that even now, in the worst drought ever experienced there, still holds a magical allure to most visitors? No photo or set of words can ever do justice to experiencing the Marienfluss at sundown. For this reason, the best way I can describe my trip is through a photo essay of all the most memorable moments, spaces and places.