A dry, hot day in Rehoboth, Namibia. The sun beats down, the air is thick with dust, and a sense of anticipation hangs in the heat. A horse race is about to begin – not as spectacle, but as a tradition that carries weight, pride, and rhythm.
This is not a tourist event. It’s a deeply rooted community practice. Families gather on the backs of pickup trucks, children run barefoot through the dry grass, and riders saddle their horses with focus and familiarity. The atmosphere is filled with tension and celebration – the smell of leather and sweat, the shimmer of heat, the low hum of excitement.
As part of a documentary film production for ARTE, I was working in Rehoboth to explore identity, belonging, and resilience in this region. The horse race became an essential chapter of that story – not just as a visual highlight, but as a moment that embodied movement, resistance, and pride.
This photographic series emerged intentionally within that context – not as a side note, but as a visual exploration of rhythm and ritual, of speed and stillness. It captures the energy of a day where everything came together: the dust, the light, the community, and the history that lives on in every gallop.
These images are a tribute – to the riders, the horses, the people of Rehoboth – and to a landscape that holds memory in every hoofbeat.
