Pic(k) of the week 41: CLAIMED LAND

Over the years Dubai, has become the synonym for mega-projects, often (re)claiming land from the sea. Some of the better known ones are the Palm Islands in Dubai, of which the Palm Jumeirah (top left) is the only one completed. With a large variety of accommodation from private beach front villas, apartments and more than 20 different hotels, this manmade island has given Dubai more than 100 km additional shoreline! 

Following the financial crisis of 2008, all development of the larger Palm Jebel Ali (top right) came to a halt and has not restarted since.

At the bottom left one can see the Ajmal Makan project just to the north of Dubai in the Emirates of Sharjah. Bottom right is Daria Island close to Dubai canal, which by now is well developed.  

Over the years I've tried documenting these projects with some aerial photos. Lately, I've been converting some aerials into Black and White, where the high contrast, highlights the projects quite well.

Below are 4 images I grouped with the caption "Claimed land". Although the official name for this process is "Reclaiming" land, I've never understood how something can be reclaimed when it was never there in the first place? Two dredging companies did the reclaiming of land for both Palm Islands and the World Dubai; Jan de Nul (Belgium) and Van Oord (Netherlands). 



Since the images have been shot with a variety of cameras/lenses, I'll exceptionally not list the image details. I can share however that all images were converted into Black and White using DxO SilverEfex 2.

The Expo 2020 Dubai has started at the beginning of this month and will run till end of March 2022. A dedicated gallery with images shot at the Expo site can be found here. Check regularly as this will be a very active gallery over the next few months. 

Remember: "Opportunities are made. They do not just lay around waiting for someone to grab them" - Mohammed bin Rashid al Maktoum





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