This is a city that sits between the Arabian desert and the sea. It’s an ultra-modern swathe of high rise buildings and spectacles created to dazzle visitors, while there are still traditional pockets left intact. Love or loathe Dubai, it is a hugely photogenic place.
See also: Souk Dawn and dusk The bright lights of Dubai Dazzling desert towers
Dubai is an upwardly mobile city, bristling with skyscrapers. They come in every shape and size, mostly shiny and new. The world’s tallest building, Burj Khalifa, is fittingly found here.
In the piercing sunlight of the Arabian Gulf in summer and under a clear blue sky, photographing these towers is hard work. You have to squint and point your lens far upwards. It can be harsh and unyielding. But with these soaring lines the results can also be astounding – especially for a fan of extreme architecture.
London’s skyscrapers seem to pale into insignificance compared to the high rise might of Dubai. There is no desert light in this city. How do you think the two compare? Take a look at Skyscraper study and The highest heights to make up your own mind.
Burj Khalifa is the world’s tallest building, piercing the futuristic skyline of Dubai in the United Arab Emirates.
It’s a wondrous structure which shimmers and glitters at night across the city. It was quite a challenge to fit the entire building into a frame from quite close quarters. Crouching on the ground and some extreme tripod angles were the only answer – a sweaty job in a very sultry 35C.
This is the first image from a trip to Dubai and the Indian Ocean island country of Mauritius. Further posts inspired by captures from these travels will appear here regularly.
