cruising the chobe...

A cormorant dries its wings on the evening breeze after a day of fishing.

The Chobe River is a haven for wildlife on the northern border of Botswana. Here Teshka and I finally fulfill a long-held dream: a sunset cruise in Africa, together!

Now what we have here is your typical tourist photo. The only feature of interest is but a teeny tiny speck within the frame, surrounded by not much else. Ho-hum, dreadful.

I do happen to like it, though. Not because it is a "good" photograph, but because it is absolutely authentic. This is exactly what you see in this landscape, from a small boat on a wide river in the late afternoon. So much openness and expanse, a spaciousness rich in simple nuance and subtlety, all water and sky and distant horizon.

The American photographer Robert Adams has made a career of prosaic scenics something like this, most taken in the emptier parts of the Pacific Northwest. But the truth is, on the whole, I think his stuff is rubbish. You can only get away with the subtle nuance thing just so much.

Most of the time, interesting photographs are preferable.

Kasane, Botswana, April 2008.

Rolleiflex T, Fomapan 200.