“Navigating the Desert”

It had never crossed my mind that my trip to the United Arab Emirates in 2005 would surprise me with that amount of unforgettable exotic and inspiring depictions. I was then on a visit to Abu Dhabi, whilst working on a book that looks into location rendering and journey literature. Amjad Nasser, a friend of mine and the initiator of that trip, was joining me. Being a poet, Nasser was then preparing poetic lyrics on the landscape of Abu Dhabi for the purposes of the book, and I was to contribute by snapping a special photo collection of this landscape.

I was fortunate enough to end my visit to Abu Dhabi with an expedition to Liwa, the origin of late Sheikh Zayed and his tribal ancestors before their moving and settling in Abu Dhabi. It was April, late spring, when we were driving in the area overlooking the Rub al Khal desert. All of a sudden, we were faced with a severe thunderstorm. I grasped this opportunity to take exclusive snapshots of the Arab desert soil absorbing those heavy rainfalls that were accompanied by intense mist covering the view and the sand dunes. Within minutes, I found myself surrounded by relentless watersheds pouring in from everywhere.

It was a unique scene of the nature speaking of itself: the first couple of raindrops falling and penetrating through the sands; the minute granules getting wet, then becoming soaked in water, whilst changing colours every second. I turned quickly to observe the rapidly changing shades of colour on the different layers of the sandbanks. There were moments of excess light; and others of dim light with the miasma and the clouds stretching out and blurring the scene. Most striking was trying to follow, with my eyes and camera, the mist that was unexpectedly throwing its patches of whiteness over the peaks of the sand dunes. I could see the scene changing within seconds; it was as if the land and the sky were taking it in turn to alter their colour every moment.

Being accompanied by one of that area’s residents who wanted to try his new 4-wheeler, the thunderstorm was just the perfect stake! We took it in turn to test the car’s power in climbing up the precipitous sand hills and sliding steeply downwards; turning to the extreme left then to the extreme right; speeding up forcefully to avoid its wheels being caught in the damp sands, which were getting more slippery with every new drop of rain.

So, instead of looking at a pale sky and watching the burning sun rays transform all shades of colour into a lifeless white, I had the chance to enjoy watching closely-gathered clouds at times, and widely-dispersed clouds at other. In between these clouds, patches of the sky were penetrating with their purely sparkling blue colour. Along with all these came the shades of pure white mist, instead of the dusty winds, which were solidly enveloping the peaks of the sand cliffs.

During these anxious and enthusiastic moments, I was asking myself every now and then whether what I was going through was really happening or was I imagining it; whether it is possible to see the miasma that usually occurs in high mountainous and cold areas, emerging here in a desert environment and in a rather hot climate?!

“Navigating the Desert” exhibition captures this exceptional visionary experience, through portraying three locations:

The first is Liwa area in Abu Dhabi, where the photos are of two types: a) photos that cite the instantaneous changes in the desert landscape during the few hours of heavy shower; b) close snaps and specific details of the desert scene, with picturesque imagery of the wavy shades of the sand layers, where the rain drops on the dry sand have left a special effect and have decorated the sand dunes with endless curvy lines.

The second cited location is the area lying in between Abu Dhabi, Ein and Jabal Hafeet. A main pathway exists just in the middle of the sand dunes, the rocky cliffs, and the wide pieces of land planted with palm trees. I was determined to come back to this area for a second visit in November 2006, when I was invited by Abu Dhabi Center for Strategic Studies.

The second location is Wadi Rum in southern Jordan. The peculiar scene over there is the desert uniting with the huge rocky mountains through the sunset, which reflects on both of them, and gives them a special taste of rose-red colour. Photos of this place are a mixture between wide-scope sceneries and close snaps.

Finally, I would like to say that this is only a first experience in “Navigating the Desert”. I hope it will instigate further individual and group navigation to hunt deeply and search into the inspiring heart of the desert.

Hani Hourani
Amman, Jordan

ujrc@ujrc-jordan.org