HAPPY WORLD PHOTOGRAPHY DAY

They say the best camera is... and for me, many times it is my trusty iPhone. It is the wonderful "always with me" camera. This World Photography Day I am reminded of this quote:

“To me, photography is an art of observation. It’s about finding something interesting in an ordinary place… I’ve found it has little to do with the things you see and everything to do with the way you see them.” - Elliott Erwitt

I have had the great fortune to observe a wide assortment of people, places and events with my trusty iPhone, which allows me to capyure things the way I see them. I look forward to being able to see the world again and capture those moments once the world finds a viable pathway forward when we find ourselves living in the post COVID-19 world. In the meantime, I have been capturing my time here in Dubai with my ever faithful iPhone and posting them to my UAE specific Instagram account. If you have a moment, take a look:

www.instagram.com/photographingdubai

THANKS, APPLE

Before the world went into lockdown and the Apple stores closed due to COVID-19, my MacBook Pro keyboard started to act up a bit. What began with a stubborn and tricky "h" key developed into further keyboard issues that made typing a bit of a pain. I finally managed to get my machine in for an appointment yesterday at the Apple Store in the Dubai Mall. While my MBP is out of warranty, the keyboard issues were still covered. I was told it would take 2-3 days to fix and low and behold less than 24 hours later, my Mac is fixed, with a new Keyboard, top case and battery. Excellent customer service as always, great social distancing protocols in the store and robust COVID-19 safety mechanisms in place at both the mall and again within the store.

After my great experience with Apple replacing my faulty keyboard, the following day I noticed some marks on my screen. While we are all familiar with the grease marks the keys sometimes leave on the screen, I noticed a definite set of depressions on the screen from the location the space bar would have landed on said screen when the laptop was closed. I had not noticed these marks before. So, I took my MacBook Pro back down to the Apple Store at the Dubai Mall (without an appointment) and they took a look. After a few minutes explaining the situation, the Apple employee told me that they would replace the screen at no charge and that they a replacement screen in stock and so my MBP would be ready for pick-up in a few hours. My MBP is out of warranty, but Apple replaced the keyboard and the screen at no cost. Had I had to pay for these items it would have cost me over $1200 (4,400 AED).

Customer service, attention to detail and indeed the overall product line are the reasons I have been a happy Apple customer for many, many years.

n.b. Stock image sourced from the official Apple website and used in accordance with their guidelines.

WE ARE MORE SIMILAR THAN WE ARE DIFFERENT

The more of the world I get to see, the more I am reminded that we humans are a lot more similar than we are different. Yes, we have language and religious differences, our skins may be different colours, and our native dress and traditions may differ, but at our core, we are all trying to survive, we are all looking for ways to grow, to support our families and to improve our lives.

On a recent and rare escape from Dubai during the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, I was struck by a section of beach in Fujairah where people had set up small food trucks. This simple image stuck in my mind and made me think back to my childhood in England and heading to the beach in the summer. On either the east or west coast and at places in between, there were similar situations where people were trying to make a living by selling local foods. I have seen very similar ventures in all of the places I have lived. In America, in Mexico in Germany and in Singapore, similar situations occur where people are just trying to make a simple living by selling food. From food trucks to street vendors and every sort of improvised food vendor vehicle in between. This simple food truck nestled into a barren landscape close to the beach in Fujairah struck me in regard to just how similar we are beyond all the superficial differences.

At our core, we are all simply looking for ways to survive. Now, more than ever.

SEEMINGLY NONSTOP JULY

Another strange month comes to a close. The days blur and the nights leave one with more questions than answers. The news that perpetually penetrates the airwaves and the brainwaves at times seems nothing but hopeless. As we begin to head into the latter part of the year, I am reminded of lyrics from this gem of a track from a-ha.

Walking by strangers
Stranger than me
We talk of the future
Between you and me

Sweet little darling
Where will we be
Sweet little darling
Where will we be

It's hard to conceive it
All comes to an end
A joke when it's funny, well...
I laugh and pretend

We're fools to believe it
We're fools to try
To slow down this seemingly
Nonstop July

Writer: Paul Waaktaar-savoy 

Let us all hope that the news gets better, that the future begins to hold some brightness and that we can all work together to find workable solutions to all us to return to some sense of normalcy during these COVID-19 times.