Picture Show: Four Days in Dubai
- Posted by: GOOD , Dustin Aksland
- on November 11, 2009 at 6:00 am
Dubai can seem more like a mirage than any place on Earth—even in the shade, it’s marvelously bright. Whether the city is the most precious gem in the United Arab Emirates’ crown or merely a piece of costume jewelry is up for debate; regardless, its very presence is remarkable. But for all its pomp and extravagance, there are real people who work and live there. Through the lens of the photographer Dustin Aksland, who recently traveled to the famed metropolis on a separate assignment, the city takes on a strikingly humble tone.
“Construction is going on 24 hours a day, but certain areas already have this ghost town feeling,” says Aksland. “What I found interesting was not the malls and the excess, but the people building the city, and on the outskirts, and in the more vacant places. The juxtaposition of the Dubai skyline with the camel farmers in the desert just outside town who are basically living off nothing…it’s really odd.”
What follows is a selection from Dustin Aksland’s “Four Days in Dubai.”
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DISCUSSION: 3 Comments
Very interesting, Definaterly not the kind of pictures of Dubai we are used to seeing!
Dubai is such an interesting place. You can see the juxtaposition of the old and new pretty clearly in some areas. And the wholesale adoption of customs and modes of building that may or may not work. It’s an interesting vaulting of a country from a subsistence culture to modernity – in the space of 40-50 years. Parts of the city are from the 60’s & 70’s – and you can still walk in those areas. The newer areas are just not suitable for walking – it’s all built for the car. It’s also interesting to see the difference between Dubai and Abu Dhabi. AD is much more of a walking city, having been much more built up in the 70’s than Dubai seems to have been. And of course, AD being on an island, its growth was more contained. Dubai used to be centered around the Creek, but they are moving south quickly – and there was very little there, so it was fresh ground. Abu Dhabi’s other islands – like Reem Island – are going to be modern extravaganzas, too, since they are blank canvasses.
What a nice pictoral. I have seen a couple of mini-documentaries on Dubai, and from what I’ve seen the development smacks of gooey materialism. These pictures show the honesty of the workers and who is bracing the hazards of those temperatures. I am almost reminded of the great pyramids in Egypt. Now with the economic downturn, I wonder who is going to buy all of those condos? Of course, it’s all oil money anyway. I can’t help but think of the little guy and how much further away the outstretched hand of wealth. At least there is water and a beach front that hopefully will be open to everyone and not just the select insanely rich few.