got on the 1st Dubai Metro train!

When the financial crisis hit Dubai, many saw us here going back to camels as the primary transport mode. Quite the opposite is true: on a date to remember - 09/09/09 - the first line of the Dubai Metro was opened by Sheikh Mohammed, Ruler of Dubai. There is no circle line in sight, but it's nevertheless great fun to ride - air-conditioned and fully automated!

How to beat the Dubai heat; in a creative way

One of my favorite places to spend time in Dubai is Tashkeel Studio in Nad Al Sheba. Whatever your creative mind fancies – photography, sculpturing, painting, 3D work, silk printing – here you will find the utilities to go ahead with your vision. Or just read for hours through the extensive book and magazine library. You have to apply for a membership, which is a quite straightforward process. Afterwards, you pay a weekly, monthly, quarterly, half-yearly or yearly usage fee.
Opening hours are Saturday to Thursday from 8 AM till 10PM; during Ramadan it will be 9 AM till 5 PM. Here a few snapshots of the place:

The Black Snapper: new photo-portal with prominent guest curator

For those of you interested in good photography sites: starting August 1, The Black Snapper website presents each day another photographer. Selection is done by weekly guest curators. Kick off does Abbas, an Iranian photographer with MAGNUM agency. Worth to check out.

Deadline! PX3 "aftermath" photo competition

PX3 (Prix de la Photographie Paris) is having a photo competition entitled "Aftermath" - but you have to hurry up, deadline is July 15, 2009. Good luck!

turmoil in Tehran: new photos

Here 3 images sent last night by my friend M.D. from Tehran (for understandable reasons, he does not want to have his name published ... simply too dangerous these days in Iran). What a change from the rather peaceful atmosphere during election campaign just 3 weeks ago!

all ready for exhibition opening tomorrow evening!

all prints framed and hanging now ... hope to see you all thursday evening at the tashkeel art center (location map). if you can't make it - the exhibition runs until august 20, 2009. see also my last post for more info.

here another motif from our group exhibition (actually, we use this one on a postcard, too). took this photo last year in satwa, when the whole district was supposed to go down very quickly. reminds me now a bit of a scene from the new "transformer" sci-fi movie, for which i saw the trailer last weekend. autobots entering satwa...?!

invitation: "made in tashkeel" group exhibition on june 18, 7pm

dear friends! you are cordially invited to my first group exhibition in dubai. 5 images of my "satwa" series will be on display at the "made in tashkeel" exhibition, which is running from june 18 until august 20 at the tashkeel art center. opening is this thursday, june 18, at 7pm. tashkeel is located next to the nad al sheba police station, not far from the nad al sheba racecourse. best have a look on their webpage (or on their facebook-group) for the location map. hope to see you all there!
my series portraits the central dubai district satwa, which seemed to be doomed less than 12 months ago, as it should make way for another grandiose real estate project entitled jumeirah village city. at least for now, this project was brought to a halt by the economic crisis and many residents have some extra time to relocate.

Tehran: progressive new driving rules, part 2

Greetings from sunny Tehran! Maybe the "axis of evil" just points to its main road. Hell lot of traffic. Driving can't get more eco-balanced than this...with up to four people on a bike!

Ready for more? Well, you might download the complete slide-show, and you'll find out how many people can find space on a Honda bike (more than on the pic above, promised!). If you drop me your 10 favorites by mid-June, I'll forward you a photo-print. Just get a LARGE cup of coffee and a pen first.

Tehran: progressive new driving rules, part 1

After unsuccessfully pressing for lowering the voting age from from 18 to 15 years, the government apparently has succeeded with a radical traffic reform: looks like they lowered the eligible age for driving license holders to 12. Months, not years! The reaction of this young driver? "De do do do de da da da". We understand.
Also, my first story from Iran is online now - thanks to Jozsef and Alexander for helping me bypassing the blocked internet.
Have a nice day! Posted from Iman-Khomeini-Airport, Teheran

new photos: Iranian election campaign heating up!

Greetings from Iran! The presidential election campaign officially started here on Friday, and Ahmadinejad seems to become increasingly nervous ... as Facebook and Twitter have been blocked since last weekend!! Still, Hossein Mousavi appears to become the most serious contender and he manages to draw many young Iranians.
On my photo from yesterday you see Mousavi supporters (easily recognizable by their "green wave" ribbons) being confronted by a pro-Ahmadinejad man (center) . Within seconds the situation escalated, not least due to the walkie-talkie units which many of Ahmadinejad's people carry to request immediate support. Luckily, only arguments were exchanged. Hopefully, I will be able to post the full story soon on my webpage (uploading images seems to be blocked, too)!