Beam Me Up, Scotty!

DAVID! CHASE! HAVE YE GONE MAD!? THE ENGINES’LL NEVER TAKE IT!!!!!

You unlock this door with the key of imagination. Beyond it is another dimension – a dimension of sound, a dimension of light, a dimension of mind. You’re moving into a land of both shadow and substance, of pixels and ideas. You’ve just crossed over into…the Dubai Zone.

Dubai. This just may be the final frontier, indeed. It is 3 parts Vegas, one part planet Tatooine, and 6 parts oil money. Mix in a pantload of concrete and rebar, every luxury brand name store in the world, some very gracious people, a rampant interest in digital photography, one of the best faculties I’ve ever been honored to be associated with, and BOOM! Gulf Photo Plus springs up out of the desert heat right along with the skyscrapers.

(I realize in the first 10 sentences I’ve just mixed up together a whole bunch of sci-fi adventures.)

This is an amazing group of instructors. I mean out there. And the best part has been, even though we have been working hard, we’ve been able to hang a bit, too. You know, like hang out, like at the neighborhood bar. Except in Dubai, one of the neighborhood bars just happens to be the Skybar at the Burj Al Arab, touted as the finest hotel in the world, possessor of seven stars, and a monument to reserve and understatement. David Hobby, the wonderful, over the top genius of strobe, and Chase Jarvis, photographic visionary with an incredibly open and giving spirit, above, are just about to beam out of the bar and back to the planet earth, where presumably you don’t have to take out a second mortgage to buy a beer. (Note to Kraj Diesel…I would not buy you Johnny Walker Blue here!)

So if the Burj is so frikkin’ fancy, why’d they let us in? Thanks to Mohammed Somji, who worked a connection, they let about 15 ragtag photogs and friends in the joint. I’m sure today a memo went around banning point and shoots.

More tk.

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Comments

Charles says

May 3, 2008 at 9:08 pm

David Hobby in pants instead of shorts! Must be a fancy bar…
Bill M says

May 4, 2008 at 3:03 pm

I once asked David, “When the last time you wore a tie?”

He looked off into the distance, mind churning furiously, for a long minute or two.

Finally, I said, “That’s ok, it must have been a long time.”

David said, “Tie? I was trying to remember the last time I wore long pants.”

Thanks for the update on the trials and tribulations of being a travelling photographer. You have my condolences for the misery you must be enduring.
Carlos says

May 5, 2008 at 11:02 pm

I think it’s illegal to show bare nekkid legs in Dubai…….. I’ve seen David in shorts. They may be on to something…….
Ben says

May 5, 2008 at 11:58 pm

Man that is an amazing entryway.
Lawrence Dudley says

May 6, 2008 at 2:13 am

Couldn’t agree more with you about Dubai, it’s a bit like that round here… Completely nuts. Glad I only work here half the time!

We’re having a little VIP session tonight in Keva and then possibly Chi. Give David a shout and let me know if you fancy it, it’s usually a pretty fun night.

Oh, and Chi has lasers. Lots of lasers. Yay for some crazy photography =)

Lawrence Dudley
Kraj Diesel says

May 6, 2008 at 8:58 pm

Hmm…I’ve heard of this place. Ok, Joe, I’ll let it pass. No JW Blue here. Maybe the next time we’re in a classy, yet suitably dark, Manhattan watering hole, counting the ways Isiah ruined the Knicks.

Dubai…sounds like quite an interesting place. Gotta love any place built on oil money…
Fancy Pants says

May 10, 2008 at 10:13 am

Great shot of Chase and David, and of course, great blog here, Joe. Found you through Chase’s blog. Seems like you’re quite the writer.

Also just checked out your book on the web – I’ll be getting one. Thanks!
Steve Figueroa says

August 22, 2012 at 9:42 am

You guys are my heroes. Anytime I consider tossing in the towel and focusing on my web design and marketing business, I see the art you create and it re-inspires me to keep pushing. Thanks!