Gaps And All a/k/a Self-portrait Viewed Via A Third Party - #347

Self portrait. Bluey. The One. Jumeriah. Dubai. 2007

It would be very strange to see the gaps in ourselves that others see. Big, huge, glaring chunks of yourself just not there... We all feel we are the rounded, complete person that our within experience is our all. Yet when we see anyone else we only experience what is there to be seen, found or granted...

So here is my self portrait viewed via a third party. I hope you like me. Gaps and all.

Daytripper - #292

A day at the seaside...

Windows To The Soul - #228

A fruit seller at the fruit and veg market in Al Awir.

Global Happy Chef - #225

A happy chef at work is a good thing. This chef at the Marriott makes some damn fine duck pancakes...

Ohh I Like Your Hat - #216

As we all know - horse racing is all about what you wear and especially what hat you choose...

A fun shot to end our day at the races.

The Three Fishermen Of Jumeirah - #192

Switching back to the fish topic... here are three of the guys I met at the fishing village.

Happily working on their nets on a peaceful morning.

They were more than happy for me to take a few shots. Jez's comment of a few post's ago about there being not enough "happy" portraits struck a chord with me. Hopefully this readdresses the balance a little.

Catch Of The Day - #189

A fresh, glistening, salty, beautiful catch for a Friday morning.

Big thanks to Sam for giving me the location details. It is a fishing village that is incongruously located in the middle of Dubai. Have a look at Sam's very cool experiment at this location. The Film Experience

It's a great place, very interesting, yet it is a very poor living from the sea these days. The people here do seem to be full of humour and happiness though which is really good to see...

The themes for this week will mostly be fish and rock... all will become clear...

Up Close And Personal - #187

A simple portrait.

DXB 2007.

Chillin In Oud Metha - #149

A very pleasant guy kicking back in Oud Metha.

I'm on my way back to DXB from London and had to use a back up photo as I'm fighting with technology and the technoman is giving me a kicking...

Deira BW Portrait - #124

A friendly guy, taken near Dubai Municipality in Deira by the Creek.

Meet The Neighbours - #121

Iran is approx 150 kms away from Dubai.

The UAE and Iran have been disputing several islands in the Gulf for decades, US and the UN are getting heavy on Iran for their supposed nuclear ambitions...

Iran is heading towards becoming the latest public enemy number 1.

These guys I met today, the nicest guys I met all day. Most genuine, friendliest, coolest guys. And yes, they are Iranian. People are people.

Camel Guy No. 3 - #119

A cool jockey. We had a brief but good shouted conversation as he went past...

All the jockeys / handlers seem like decent guys who are happy to tolerate us staring at them and asking stupid questions.

P.S. For some reason there are weird internet issues going on in the UAE right now, hopefully temporary, although if there are no posts in the coming days it'll be down to connectivity problems. I hope this is not the case though...

Spot The Bluey... - #103

Taken on a fine sunny day, unlike today which is pouring with rain. It rains really hard about once or twice a year usually, this year seems more... This is one of those moments and the whole town is flooded (again).

Instead here is a nice shot of a friend in the sunshine with a little Bluey self-portrait too.

I Can See For Miles and Smiles #101

A happy guy in the desert. Maybe he was happy that his male bearded friend the kundura wearing person of restricted height, approx 4 foot, had just kissed my very tall male friend... but that is another story...

Who knows?

Pride On The Mean Streets - #85

Taken on a quiet Friday morning... a nice guy, friendly and happy to have me poke a camera at him for no apparant reason.

Just a guy doing his job, although done efficiently and with a sense of pride.

Did you do the same today? I tried to...

What Did You Do Today? - #66

This man and his friends built this city (contrary to the 80's hit single, it was them, not Starship).

I think that should be applauded. And to be blunt - they deserve so much better.

Spinneys Man - #63

A favourite of mine. Perhaps the first portrait I really tried...

Taken this year at Spinneys (a supermarket like Sainsburys in the UK) in Umm Sequim district of Dubai.

I love his kind face. A man of Pakistani origin that had been in Dubai for over 40 years. The changes he would have seen are amazing...

The 2 Deira Ronnies

I am happy with the questions in this piece.

What are you doing?
Why us?
What do you find so interesting about us?

These all come to my mind.

It also comes to my mind that the some of the population may think these questions of me always, not just when I take their picture.

Roasted Vegetables - #32

I've shown you a little of Deira's fish market, now here is a character from Ras Al Khor's fruit and veg market. Ras Al Khor is at the top end of the Creek and is generally known for 2 things - the used car market and the fruit and veg market.

Once again, the market is a covered, yet open air affair. This, as you may guess, means the temperature in the summer is simply insane. The roof is corrugated aluminum....

This guy and all of his colleagues were working so hard in this heat. They hand pull big carts / wheelbarrows around the market. Each customer gets a man with a barrow to help.

This guy's face tells a million tales... and not one of them involves the word blooop or the discussion of world invasion.

Starlight, Brunchlight - #23

I love instant gratification / satisfaction - so in a follow up to yesterdays brunch post...

Brunch
Yesterday
My friend
100% DXB Baby!

(And Ramadan Kareem to all)