The Cristina de Middel 'The Afronauts' series is beautifully bizarre. The photographs in the ongoing project by Spanish photographer Cristina de Middel are captivating on their own as each frame uses a grand landscape along with the color-patterned outfits of the Afronauts. But when you take a closer look these pictures carry a sadness to them, and the story that accompanies them makes them all the more heartbreaking.
de Middel was inspired by the Zambian space program dream that started after the country gained their independence. At the head of the project was school teacher Edward Makuka, who had started to get the project off its feet. However, with a lack of funding and support, the optimism for the project diminished.
The series captures the unattainable dream that can now only survive in these photographs.
Sorrowful Space Shoots
The Cristina de Middel 'The Afronauts' Remembers the Failed Zambian Project
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