ghost towns lay buried under sand in james kerwin's 'uninhabited' photo series

‘uninhabited’ is an ongoing photographic essay by english photographer and visual storyteller, james kerwin. the series transports us to abandoned towns and villages across the globe: from kolmanskop in namibia to al madam in the UAE. houses that have been long forgotten are now engulfed in sand, letting us wonder who once lived there.

al madam in the UAE was the 5th ghost town that kerwin visited in 2019

images by james kerwin

the eerily beautiful ghost town of kolmanskop was the first on kerwin‘s list to photograph, which he completed over four days in february 2019. in the same year, the photographer traveled to al madam to capture the stunning tones and colors of a village lost in time.

shot inside another sand-filled house in al madam

you can find more photos from other ghost towns across turkey, ukraine, and south east asia on james kerwin’s website here, where you can also browse limited edition prints. the making of the images is also shown via behind-the-scenes videos on his youtube channel. the series was intended to be shot over five years, but due to the global pandemic, it has been put on pause until it’s safe to travel once again. 

the main feature of al madam is the mosque situated at the end of the town, buried in the sand

aerial view of that same mosque, shot during the morning light in november 2019

this was the photographer’s favorite image from al madam: ‘I love the framing – the window showcases the other house opposite perfectly’

kerwin returned two days later to al madam to capture the lovely colors and tones of the early morning light

the first ghost town kerwin visited was kolmanskop in namibia

‘some of the best images that I shot in kolmanskop were buried away in the back of the town, which was full of sand deeper than the houses at the front’

the photographer visited kolmanskop over four mornings, the colors and tones changed throughout the day

late afternoon light spills through the wooden roof slats of the abandoned building

shot of kolmanskop’s famous floating door: ‘I went early, and instead of shooting straight on I decided to push the camera right’

project info:

project name: uninhabited
photography: james kerwin

designboom has received this project from our ‘DIY submissions‘ feature, where we welcome our readers to submit their own work for publication. see more project submissions from our readers here.

edited by: lynne myers | designboom