Dubai is a fascinating city and there is a great deal of sand, concrete and glass. There are beautiful buildings punching upwards towards the sky. The Burj Khalifa tower is the tallest building in the world and its design is complimented by the also impressive Jumeirah Emirates towers. In the morning, there is a haze as the sun rises and the buildings look like marooned giants searching for their way home. 
During the day the sun burns out the structures and it was fortunate that I brought along my UV/polarised filter which helped cut down the glare and bring colour back to the pictures. You also are not able to stay out in the heat for too long either as it saps your energy.
As the sun sets the colour returns and the buildings reflect the reds giving a warm glow to the concrete and steel.
It is fleeting as dusk followed by the night arrives. However the neon takes over and there are many opportunities to take night shots. I visited Wafi where the buildings have an Egyptian theme and there is an evening light show.
My visit was part of my work with the University of Birmingham so many of the pictures were taken when the opportunity arose during the day. It is an exciting city and look forward to seeing how the University of Birmingham develops there.
Christ the King – Sophiatown where many anti apartheid rebels sought sanctuary from the Government
This wonderful statue was on Constitutional Hill.
Another interesting place was near to Melville and it was called 27 boxes. It was a container village that had become a centre for arts and crafts. There were many small businesses located there.
Although there was work to be done in the conference, we did have a day out to visit Soweto and visited the Hector Pieterson Museum and Nelson Mandela’s house, 8115 in Soweto. All very memorable places to visit. On the final day after the conference finished, we jumped on the hop-on and hop-off bus. It gave use the chance to visit Constitutional Hill and the Apartheid Museum both of which raised stirring emotions not only of the period of British rule but also the past transgressions of the White government that imposed the evil of apartheid. The present society is fractured but it is trying its best to rectify itself and move forward. I left with some incredible memories of a place that is so different to normal cities that I have visited.
