Evidence of Mankind
What people leave behind in the wild places of Southern Africa
Koos van der Lende
I love the contrast of old things, or just things that are out of place.
— Koos van der Lende, the Vanessa Seafood wreck, AngolaKoos van der Lende keeps people out of his landscapes: no roads, no poles, no wires. The exception is what people leave behind. A wreck on the diamond coast, an ox wagon from the diamond rush, an old car rusting at the edge of the Namib, a small cross by the sea. Things that have outlived their purpose, and look strange and beautiful in the empty places where they came to rest.
These thirteen panoramas were made over many years, from the closed diamond coast of Namibia to the far north coast of Angola, Bird Island in Algoa Bay and a railway yard in Pretoria. Many of the places have changed since. The wrecks are under the sand, the railway has been rebuilt, the island is open to visitors.
Between the works are his field notes, on light, weather and timing in open country, for anyone who wants to see these places the way he does.
- Works13 panoramas
- PlacesNamibia, Angola, South Africa and Mozambique
- Made onSlide film, 6 × 17 cm
- Edition25 of each, signed and numbered
- Sizes80 to 140 cm wide
- PricesFrom $980
The Works
Koos van der Lende
For close to two decades Koos van der Lende has travelled Southern Africa with a panoramic film camera, planning each picture days ahead, where the sun will fall, at what time, at what angle. He still works on traditional slide film, which is processed and scanned to make prints of rare quality.
His archive runs from the Namib to the Indian Ocean. Evidence of Mankind is drawn from it for this site, alongside the Classic Collection, Sacred Forests, the Water Pear Tree Collection, the Baobab Collection, Solitary Survivor and the Latest Release.
Moments of Grace, eighteen years of his panoramas from Angola to the Seychelles, a linen cloth covered, hand assembled book in a handmade leather pouch, opening to a full metre wide.