Kanaan Desert, Namibia – 2024

Archival Pigment Print

“If we can persuade a female icon to take leave from the Paris Fashion shows, and then take three flights with a combined 16 hours flying time, only to then arrive in a Mars like desert with no accommodation other than tents, we better have a good plan when she reaches her tent.

We did have a plan, but when Cara arrived in Namibia the weather was so windy and stormy that we could not even hold a glass of water in our hands. It hadn’t properly rained in this part of the Kanaan Desert for two years, but the day we arrived for one of our most ambitious productions, it started to properly rain. You could not make this shit up.

But this poor weather created an opportunity not a threat, as it always does. Although the storm cleared through the night, it was still unseasonably cold and when we arrived at the top of the sand dunes at dawn, the distant mountains were enveloped in low cloud. This is most unusual and added a whole new element to what I already knew was a visually intoxicating location. The wind had also left new textural patterns in the sand.

The positioning of Cara and the cheetah on the ridge of the dunes lends a pleasing compositional balance to the picture. It was not all down to fortune and I could not have done this without the help of the Naankuse team in Namibia and in particular Rudi and Marlice Van Vuuren. It also helps that I know the dunes well; any filmmaker must make decisions quickly at sunrise in the desert. The light I needed to amplify the beauty of the content is only gifted for a brief period.

The real credit goes to Cara Delevingne though, what a force of nature she is and a total professional. It is not easy walking naked in those dunes with a cheetah watching your every move.

The best pictures are authentic and can never be taken again. I think this raw and elemental picture ticks those boxes. It is a glimpse of our beautiful world.” – David Yarrow