Thorsten Milse

Africa's Last Wilderness
The Skeleton Coast in Namibia

A portrait of one of the most extreme parts of the world. One of the smallest and oldest deserts in the world (270,000 km2) – but one with the most extremes. The Namib’s aridity is caused by the descent of dry air from of the Hadley Cell, cooled by the cold Benguela current along the coast. The northern part – the Skeleton Coast – is named for the bleached whale and seal bones as well as the shipwrecks caused by rocks offshore in the fog. This part has been declared “Skeleton Coast National Park”. Thorsten Milse, one of the really few that crossed this inhospitable coast, captured the hidden beauty and wildlife in his renowned photographs. A fascinating interaction of sand, wind and water. But he is also “talking backstage”: What a photographer has to do in this kind of extreme environment, how he suffers, about the patience required... With an introduction by Rod Brady, former National Park Director and now head of nature conservation projects sponsored by the World Bank