23rd Annual Smithsonian Magazine Photo Contest Travel
Layered Decay

Sunlight streams through an arched window into a sand-filled room, its peeling walls and faded trim revealing the ghostly beauty of Kolmanskop, Namibia. Once a thriving diamond mining town in the Namib Desert, Kolmanskop was abandoned in 1956, leaving its grand buildings to slowly succumb to invasive dunes. Today, windblown sand carpets the interiors, transforming these remnants of luxury into surreal, haunting landscapes that powerfully evoke the passage of time and nature’s reclaiming force.

Photo Detail
Date Taken: 07.2024
Date Uploaded: 11.2025
Photo Location: Namibia
Camera: NIKON Z 7_2
Copyright: © Alexandre Brisson