Namib Squares

The innate tendency to attribute the human form to the non-human world is known as anthropomorphism, and is as old as civilisation itself. In the visual arts, be it advertising or photography, it is used to create an emotional connection between the viewer and the subject matter. This is based on the psychological truism that anthropomorphism of inanimate objects affects human behaviour. A consumer is well-disposed towards a car if the front grille looks like a smiling face. A classic, and rather unoriginal, source of anthropomorphism in the natural world are trees. These trees are the famous camel-thorn trees of the Deadvlei, the remnants of a forest frozen in time in Namibia’s Namib-Nakluft National Park. They have a human quality - or rather they accept the imposition of a human quality.

I. The Heliolater

II. The Supported

III. The High Priest

IV. The Gatekeepers