To express the intense summer heat of the Kalahari region in Southern Africa, I baked these prints at 47° Celsius. Travelling over Christmas through towns and villages in Botswana and Namibia, I found respite from the heat by joining villagers under the shade of lone trees, in small tin shanties and dusty liquor stores. Here graves are covered with shade cloth out for respect for the dead - imagine gazing up at the Kalahari sun for all eternity.
On christmas day, a Herero family took pity on me and invited me into their home. The family were hosting the entire village that day. We sang Christmas carols and listened to Bible readings. We sipped cool orange juice and ate hot chicken and rice. For this special occasion most of the men donned their suits and the women wore traditional Herero outfits, heavy multi-layered dresses styled on those worn by colonialists in Victorian times. Some women even wore shawls. Stand on ceremony, I say. It beat standing around a braai on Christmas day.
