Slow Lens
Gallery · Namibia

Namibia

Namibia is a big, thinly peopled country where the desert runs all the way down to the Atlantic, and the light, most days, is hard and clear.

This sequence follows the usual loop out of Windhoek: east into the red Kalahari, then south-west across the Namib-Naukluft to Sesriem and the dunes of Sossusvlei, where the dead camel thorns of Deadvlei stand on a pan of white clay. From there it turns north to the coast, with flamingos on the lagoon at Walvis Bay, the old German town of Swakopmund and the seals at Cape Cross, before heading inland to the granite of Spitzkoppe, the desert elephants of Damaraland and the waterholes of Etosha.

37 photographsSeason: Dry seasonOriginals up to 5760 px · 88.7 MB in total
The Christuskirche in Windhoek, with a palm in the forecourt A giraffe silhouetted against a Kalahari sunrise A gemsbok in dry grass in the Kalahari A track winding through bare hills in the Namib-Naukluft A dry riverbed in a rocky gorge, Namib-Naukluft Quiver trees on a stony plain, Namib-Naukluft Sunset light on the mountains at the edge of the Namib A sociable weaver nest in an old acacia near Sossusvlei The narrow walls of Sesriem Canyon A tree on the gravel floor of Sesriem Canyon A wind-worn rock arch in Sesriem Canyon Dune 45 at sunrise, half in shadow Walkers on the crest of Dune 45 A lone tree at the foot of Dune 45, walkers on the skyline Wind-shaped ridges and shadows in the Sossusvlei dunes Footprints along a dune crest above a white clay pan, Sossusvlei A dune ridge dividing light from shadow at Sossusvlei Big Mama dune at Sossusvlei Wind lifting sand off a dune on the way to Hidden Vlei Dead trees scattered across Deadvlei, seen from the dune Dead camel thorns on the pan below the dunes at Deadvlei Bleached clay and blackened trees at Deadvlei A dead camel thorn and its shadow on the white clay of Deadvlei Morning at Deadvlei, the moon above the dune Cracked clay and a twisted stump at Deadvlei Walkers on the face of Dune 7 near Walvis Bay Flamingos in the Walvis Bay lagoon below the dunes The Swakopmund jetty against the afternoon sun Colonial-era façades on Sam Nujoma Avenue, Swakopmund The red-and-white lighthouse above the beach at Swakopmund A Cape fur seal pup asleep on the sand at Cape Cross The granite peaks of Spitzkoppe rising from the plain Granite boulders below a sheer dome at Spitzkoppe A butter tree among dark boulders at Spitzkoppe Two young desert elephants in Damaraland Two bull elephants drinking at a waterhole in Etosha A springbok ram in the long grass of Etosha

Click any frame for the large view; every photograph can be downloaded at full resolution under its licence. Photographers are credited on each photo page and on Credits.

Stories from Namibia

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Sossusvlei and the Namib, Namibia · 31 March 2026

Sossusvlei, from Dark to Dark

One long day among the red dunes of the Namib, from the queue at the Sesriem gate before dawn to the dead trees of Deadvlei.

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