Oliver Gerhartz - The Waning Season
Nearest Truth Editions 2025
After the fall of a 30 year long dictatorship in 2019, Sudan
entered a period of uncertainty—a mixture of fragile hope
and lingering fear filled the air. No one realized that this
was merely the calm before the storm, a brief respite before
the upheaval of 2023 that would shatter all confidence at
once. It was during this fleeting moment of stillness that the
photographs for THE WANING SEASON were taken in the
capital, Khartoum.
Khartoum lies at the heart of Sudan, where the White Nile
and Blue Nile converge, forming the nexus of Omdurman to
the west, Khartoum to the south, and Bahri to the north.
THE WANING SEASON is not a documentary about
Khartoum but rather a subjective reflection through the eyes
of an outsider. It does not seek to provide answers—only to
raise questions.
The city appears dark and cold, despite the relentless
brightness and heat. The streets are harsh and dusty, the
buildings silent witnesses to transience, their walls marked
with painted messages. Everything is at a standstill, a sense
of stagnation lingering—a moment suspended in time before
night finally gives way to day. The city rests, movement
reduced to a whisper. There is little traffic, few people.
Years of dictatorship have drained it, leaving it in a state of
exhaustion. The same stillness seeps into its people, where
hope feels too fragile to grasp.
Oliver Gerhartz is an architect. In 2020, his firm was
commissioned to renovate the German Ambassador’s
residence in Khartoum. The project was never completed.
On April 15, 2023, engineers, supervisors, and craftsmen left
the construction site for the last time. That same day, war
erupted in Sudan with a brutality few could have imagined.
Since then—as of January 2025—200,000 people have lost
their lives, more than 11 million have been displaced, and
over half of the population now suffers from hunger.
100 pages 47 images 27x27 cm
open binding with dust jacket
Design by LEE TESCHE
Art Direction by BRAD FEUERHELM
Printed in Greece by FUTURE FORMAT
First edition 300 copies
ISBN 978-3-00-080063-4