FINE ART

OVERSTRAND FIRE

MEDIUM FORMAT FILM

In January 2019 the Overberg Coast was ravaged by a number of wildfires. 14 000 hectares of land burned. The vegetation which was once so thick, became a black and grey desolate, barren landscape.

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But fynbos has actually adapted and become dependent on the fires in order to survive and return nutrients into the soil. In October 2019 I returned to these sites to 

photograph a blooming landscape.

A PEAT FIRE

that began on the 11th January after an uncontrollable fire swept through the area. A peat fire burns/smolders underground and if not controlled or extinguished could continue to burn for months or even years. With temperatures between 350-380 degrees Celcius on the surface and up to 4 times that underneath the surface

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When I went to photograph the site in April 2019, it was still burning. 

Continuously feeding itself with oxygen, humidity and fuel.

It was a desolate scene. Unearthly. Warm, hot, dead earth beneath my feet 

and the aroma of carbon-laden smoke slowly seeping into the atmosphere.