'ROAD SIDE SALT' by Josh Robenstone

Shot in 2014, 'Road Side Salt' transports the viewer to the sublime desolation of Namibia’s Skeleton Coast. Home to numerous shipwrecks and miles of rippling, mountainous dunes, "The Land God Made in Anger" is also home to Sub Saharan Africa’s largest salt mine, Walvis Bay, and the neighbouring marketplace of salt rocks, quietly assembled by its workers — most likely without company consent from their employers and seemingly untouched for decades.

With many decayed beyond recognition, Robenstone documents as a typology of 16 images, the modest stalls still standing, idle in an arid landscape devoid of human activity, with an honesty system of jars, cans and tins waiting as patiently as the salt crystals themselves. 

Having exhibited in Melbourne, Sydney, Tokyo and Los Angeles, Robenstone’s first published monograph (Basta!) is held in the National Gallery of Australia’s permanent collection, with his work hanging in numerous private collections in Australia and internationally. Robenstone has been published in The Good Weekend Magazine,The Observer Magazine, and The New York Times ‘T’ Magazine.

'Road Side Salt' opens at Pan After on Friday, March 26, running until April 24 2021 - with all images sold individually and framed.