End of 2010 in Dubai

Dubai in December was super fun.

Wifey and I

Leena came back through Dubai on her way home to Finland.  There was still some chocolate left magically, which we devoured in the few days she was here.  I think Finnish chocolate is the most delicious.  Lots more catching up and shop shopping.  FYI - DO NOT buy faux ipod nanos from Carrefour.  Big error.  They are £20 for a reason.

View of Dubai Mosque from the metro

Front row on the metro

 We rode the metro for fun through the city - got some great shots.  From the Mall of the emirates to Karama area and back. Definitely recommend it.  Very clean and fast.  We got a gold pass so we could ride up front and take some photos.

 Leena and I also went to the Bastikiya for the evening - one of my favourite places in Dubai.  It's so magical at night - here are some of the snaps I took.  I gave them a black and white eerie feel.

Bastikiya

An outdoor exhibition - dangling photos.  Love it!

Beautiful Leena

Admiring the art!

The light hits the walls.

Had more work coming in for family portraits and hopefully this will lead to more contacts after the holidays.  I'm hoping to set up a photography studio type business here eventually.  I had a really fun shoot of 4 brothers.  All completely different personalities, hilarious and so so cute.  They ended up buying one for grandma and one huge one for their entrance hall. 

No Dubai week will be complete without some beach time!

Gangster Nick on the Palm

Crabby

Beach time!

Home sweet home :)

 
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UAE day and desert camping trip

 Hello!
Another busy week.  Went to Cavalli club with papa and anna for dinner - and a few others.  Fancy indeed!  Delicious food though I have to say - and really funky inside.  Furry walls and what not!
 An exhibition at the bastikiya - one of my favourite places in Dubai.  Very old school and mystycal.  I've decided this is where I want to have my exhibition so I'm going to meet with some galleries and go from there.  One place had a spot outside you could create your own pictures with candle wax in the emirates flag colours for UAE day!  Meggy is going to put up her cute heart picture in her new home!

UAE day was immense - all the cars here were kitted out with stickers, decals, flags, glitter - the whole thing.  Lots of beeping and cheering down Jumeirah Beach Road.  Silly string to the face!  We showed our support with carrefour scarves and a horn.

This weekend we went on a camping trip to the desert. A convo of maybe 6 cars... very fun.  Off-roading and dune bashing!  I was scared I'm not gonna lie.  We got stuck once but someone pulled us out.  I thought we were going to roll over!!  Trick is to drive super fast at a steady speed (or get pro driver James Horsman to take over.)   Then bbq's, sing songs by the campfire and photo taking play time.  All fun.  No sleep from the freezing desert... I was not prepared for this!  Wake up early and drive home with a cheeky stop and dunkin' donuts...

Cavalli club

love painting

bastikiya

UAE day parade!

Camels!

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Leena visit and Karama.

Busy week in Dubai - Leena came to stay from Finland!  En route to Bangkok.  Got used to the insane driving style here and am now quite enjoying zooming around, triple lanes changes and poor parking... (same as back home I guess.) Picked her up 4am from creepy terminal 1...  not so fabulous.  But very happy to have her here.  Lots of chats and gossip since we last saw each other in Spring.

  

We went to Karama for the day to take pictures and browse some faux dior handbags.  Karama is an amazing place - a treasure trove of goodies.  Basically, fake products are illegal here so they have to find a way to sell them.  All the stores have a secret wall/bookshelf that pushes back to reveal some hidden stairs to take you to a tiny loft.  From there, a magical swipe card comes out to open another hidden door which usually takes you back down some other stairs and into a mecca of delights.  My favourite shop there is Flamingo - best for handbags and purses, really good fakes and they give you a discount (maybe due to my incessant visits)  Someone in Flamingo actually takes you for a walk down the back of the shops, into a block of flats, squeezes into the lift with you (this is the part where I ask them if they're planning on murdering me)  then down a long corridor into a fake office set up!  Then the swipe card comes out and a side door opens....  BOOM.  Ghetto fabulous.  I actually love this place too much,  Marc Jacobs and Hermes being top of my list....

Another day James, Nick and I went to watch Nick racing a subaru impreza.  Practicing our photo skills with Jamesy and his new canon 550d, which he is loving!  I'm still on the nikon d200... desperate for an upgrade but if I do it, it'll be the canon 5d mark ii.... and it means changes my entire kit so would probably set me back about £4k....  think I'll stick with the nikon for now!  Car photography is harder than I imaged!  Tried out panning and diagonals to create movement.  Only got a couple good ones of a lovely audi...  Am now fantasising about dream cars.  Dad just ordered a new mercedes coupe I think.  AMG?  I dont remember but its super fast apparently.  I am hoping I will be allowed a sneaky drive of this every now and again.  :)  Danger zone.

Karama

Lovely Wifey!

James gangster style

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Oman/Dubai - The Border

Delay in posting as usual.  I will start writing more often...

Getting used to Dubai life.  Very up and down, one minute you feel fabulous in your KG heels at a glittery fancy party... the next you find yourself sweating in a smelly queue to renew your visa in Oman. 
Yes... I am doing the monthy trip to the Oman border.  I went with James and a new friend Guy for male protection!  Chose to go on a national holiday foolishly where every man and their 17 children appeared to be vacationing at the Oman Immigration Office.  A stunning 2 hour drive through the red desert to a shack (Dubai immigration), then through to Oman.  Price inflation from 50 dirhams to 200(£40)!  Gutted.  Sadly, as we set of late and the 3 hours of queue times, we did a U-turn and came straight back!  Had some meats and a mini grill so stopped off in the desert and took some night photos.  James taught me his favourite painting with light techniques - funfun.  Followed by some charred burgs.  So we ended on a high after all.  A meat high.

My new love - 2000 Range Rover.

Red Desert

James torching himself up.

My next visa run is due next week... bring it on.





www.joannetolner.com

Good Morning UAE

Newlyweds Meggy Bean & James!  Love them.

 

I'm here in Dubai. Used up the mileage to go in business... couldn't face being at the back of the bus for 16.5 hours. Sleep times and movies (some classics: speed & lost in translation.)

So happy my newly married bestest friends Meggy & James are here - they met me at the airport with a run and hugs! Then straight to my Dad's house. Lucky indeed to be living on The Palm. Nobody home so have a free house for a week.

Sunset on The Palm

The Atlantis Hotel

Exhibition time before Meggy sets off to Oz for 3 weeks. Been at the DIFC a lot these last few weeks and al Quoz. Seen some awesome work - I loved one in particular, which was paintings of forests with moving projections of rabbits and snow over the top. AMAZING!

Working on some new projects myself. Photography exhibition time. I'm thinking mixed media - canvas photos with work on top.... hmm. I'll upload some pics as I go along. I'm playing with fabric and sand. I've narrowed down to 18... Must find a good printers here too.  

 Below just show some shots I captured out and about...

On a side note - since I got here I've been addicted to Hip Hop Abs!  The funniest thing I've seen on an infomercial when I was in The States.  It's a set of work out videos with an awesome, over the top gay guy jumping around cheering 'He-ey... Giiirl you better work.  IT.  '  Anyway, I love it and it's actually addictive.  I'm holding out for some promised abs - I'll keep you informed.  (My 'before' photos shall remain on a secret folder on my laptop until I have thus abs.)

www.joannetolner.com

Joanne Tolner - One Life Photos

Joanne Tolner - One Life Photos

Please check out the link above as I've entered into a photo competition!
Your support would be so wonderful! Not only for the $25k prize, but for a confidence boost!

Thanks for looking!

www.joannetolner.com

Goodbye USA - Hello Dubai!

USA Visa is expiring and I found a photo job in Dubai (which I ended up not taking!!)  But I decided to come to Dubai for work and plan on having an exhibition here.  I'm working on some ideas right now - mixed media.  I have no idea how long I will end up staying in Dubai, but for now I'm living with my Dad.  Not too shabby.  :)


The last couple weeks in LA I spent with Joey.  Lots of trips around - Rodeo Drive, Downtown LA (which is awesome for photo taking!)  I think I am actually obsessed with taking photos - to the point that I can no longer look at things without framing them in my vision! And I kinda freak out in my mind when I get in the sea/ride a bike as I can't take pictures....  I must be a nightmare to hang out with, ADD madness!

Rodeo Drive

 I am excited for new things in Dubai but sad to be leaving LA.  I met some lovely friends here.  Sue-Na and her boyfriend Mike were always fun to hang out with.  Cooking/baking Sunday for one!  Anders and Todd were like big brothers who looked out for me.  And I will miss living with Le and Joey.  I also was spoilt with acupuncture treatments, which I must say - IS THE BEST THING EVER.  Mike is super, super talented and worked his wonders on helping me and making me feel like a new person.  I'm all for chinese medicine!  Even with 8 needles in one ear - eek!

I'm sure I will be back in LA next year.  There's only so much skype dating one can manage!


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