Instagram is filled with awe-inspiring photos of this great city and emirate we call home and it’s all thanks to you, our readers. So, we decide to meet one you to find out some of his favourite places in Abu Dhabi.
Image by Ali Ahmad
words Derek Issacs
The huge plate windows of the Galleria Cafe in Abu Dhabi’s Al Nahyan Camp district are perfect for eyeing up the tight network of streets beyond but the intense heat outside means all the action is inside.
The sounds of Khaliji music and the buzz of Saturday afternoon cafe-goers meld among the clouds of cigarette smoke. I’m sipping on Moroccan tea waiting for Ali Ahmad, one of our ardent fans and followers on the Abu Dhabi World Instagram page, who regulary posts, and tags us, in some of the most awe-inspiring shots he’s taken of Abu Dhabi.
https://www.instagram.com/p/CCu7itkJxG0/
Ahmad, a software engineer from Faisalabad in Pakistan, reveals how he’s been living in Abu Dhabi for more than eight years. “I love the financial stability and the safety that Abu Dhabi offers,” he says.
His love for the emirate is clear in his photographs, which depict both the urban beauty of the capital and the emirate’s mysterious desert vistas.
Ahmad often travels to the desert to take atmospheric shots like this one of the Fossil Dunes in the Abu Dhabi desert
‘IT consultant by profession … Photographer by passion’, it says on Ahmad’s insta page whose feed yields both the familar and not so familiar sites of the Emirate of Abu Dhabi, mixed with a sprinkling of Pakistan landscapes too.
So, where does Amad aim his lens and what makes his camera click most?
“You’ll often fine me hanging around Etihad Towers,” he says.”I love it there and the unity that the structure represent.”
Ahmad often uses reflections to show of his subject when taking photogrpahs. This one shows Etihad Towers.
Next on the list is an architectual gem that greets people as they enter the capital, the Aldar Head Quarters which is said to be the first circular building of its kind in the Middle East.
The instantly recognisable Aldar HQ building is located in the Al Raha area of the city.
Those familar with Abu Dhabi will know of the city’s corniche area. Eight kilometres long, it’s perfect for cycling, walking or just sittiing to take in the sea view. It’s not difficult to see why this space is one of Ahmad’s favourites too.
Type Abu Dhabi in search engines and on social media and Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque tops the list of returns. It’s also one of the capital’s most instagrammable sites and, obviously, it’s made Ahmad’s favourite list.
For those who don’t know Abu Dhabi, or indeed the UAE, it’s easy to think that when Abu Dhabi is mentioned then it’s the capital city that is being refered to. But Abu Dhabi is an emirate of which the capital forms part. Within the emirate are other cities such as Al Ain and the Abu Dhabi suburb of Al Wathba, where you can see flamingoes, and camel racing (probably not at the same time). Al Wathba is also the keeper of the Fossil Dunes, a lesser known site that has made it to Ahmad’s list.
The Fossil Dunes are a short drive from Abu Dhabi city centre
Deeper into the emirate, Ahmad’s list takes us to the Liwa Oasis in the Rub’ Al Khali desert, famed for its dunes and wild camels that Ahmad captures in all their glory.
Dunes and camels are not the only beauties to be found on a desert landscape. “You must also look up to the sky,” says Ahmad, who’s also captured numerous shots of the Milky Way.
The pandemic has put the brakes on Ahmad’s trips beyond the city but not on taking photographs, which he does from his apartment ovelooking the city. This one taken from the Al Nahyan Camp area of the city looking towards Al Wadha is one of my favourites, not because I live in the same locality, but because I am super huge fan of urban landscapes and this one captures that perfectly.
The post Here’s Abu Dhabi in all its photogenic glory appeared first on Abu Dhabi World Online.
from Abu Dhabi World Online
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