ZOOM MEETING
Throughout 2019, James Kerwin visited three ghost towns that were left abandoned in the desert, Kolmanskop, Elizabeth Bay, Al Madam - in this high illustrated photo-talk James will look at the challenges he faced along the path to capturing beautiful shots. This presentation is a follow-up to his abandoned architecture talk that was such a such when he made a presentation to the members of the Society
Photographing Kolmanskop, a Ghost Town in Namibia
So, it is the start of a new project and new adventures after a short break at the beginning of my Nomadic journey in Cape Town, South Africa. The first of these adventures led me to a place that I have been dreaming about visiting since 2013, the ghost town of Kolmanskop in Namibia.
This was to be the start of my new series photographing the best Ghost Towns the world has to offer, a series that I am also documenting through a behind the scenes video series over on my YouTube channel - it will be a long completion process with the photography series due to take a few years to complete.
So here we are in the dry and barren Namib Desert in Southwest Africa and once we obtained our permits, we were faced with the bones of a grand town which has become swallowed by the desert
Photographing The Ghost Town of Elizabeth Bay
Elizabeth Bay boasted a huge amount of diamonds as they were washed up by the sea from the Orange River mouth further south. The Elizabeth Bay operation has seen three main phases of mining, the section that I have photographed is the first.
The mine was originally built in 1911 but halted during WW1 and restarted sometime around 1915. However, it was only operational for around twenty years, closing in 1948 as the attention moved closer to the river mouth. There were additional interruptions in mining operations during the Great Depression and World War II before the mine was finally closed.
Buried in sand, the ghost town of Al Madam
The abandoned town of Al Madam Ghost Town was situated around 90 minutes from our Airbnb booking. But this was not one that I was going to miss, as it was the sole reason for wanting to return to a place that was not high up on my “places to return to” – the United Arab Emirates.
The stunning little ghost town is made of 2 rows of houses and it has a mosque at the far end of the village, which looks cool buried in the sand. All of the houses here have now succumbed to the ever shifting sands and the harsh reality of the desert. The decade long abandoned village is situated in the middle of the Sharjah desert.
About James Kerwin
In 2014 James began shooting his first abandoned building series ‘Decadence’, and six years on he has now built up a large portfolio taken in some of the most striking abandoned structures, relics & ruins in Europe and beyond.
His primary focus is capturing rich colour palettes and straight lines in the camera, then utilising modern post-processing techniques to develop each completed image.
This will be the third time James has spoken to the members of Norwich & District Photographic Society – in fact the first talk James every made to a camera club was at NDPS. James visits to Norwich are always eagerly anticipated and we expect there will be a huge demand for the guest tickets available to non-members of the Society.
VIRTUAL PRESENTATIONS
Virtual presentations will continue to take place each Tuesday evening until the lockdown restrictions imposed by the UK government due to the Covid-19 pandemic are lifted and we can all meet again in the Methodist Hall. Chapel Field Road, Norwich, NR2 1DS.
A link we be sent to all members of the Society to enable members to join the meeting. When you join the meeting please follow the on-screen instructions and the instructions of the moderator.
About Norwich & District Photographic Society
With roots that can be traced back to the middle of the nineteenth century Norwich & District Photographic Society (NDPS) is one of the oldest photographic societies in the country. The annual season has something for everyone being jam-packed with fantastic presentations from accomplished photographers, practical workshops and tutorials, field trips, special interest groups, the usual photographic competitions and much more