The Extraordinary Ordinary - Lines and Patterns in Sand...

Included is a quite substantial chunk (but only a fraction of the total number taken) of photos exploring various, man, critter, wind & water made sand patterns, taken at Qurum Beach in Muscat a short while back. I was surpised about the variety of different conditions and constellations of sand I came across whilst walking too and fro the extended stretch of beach. The quantity of and diversity of sand patterns created by the four aforementioned 'affectors' is truly amazing...

Above and below - Weawed water...

Above and below - Critter & Man made calligraphy...

Big Sun at Qurum Beach, Muscat...

A few photos taken last weekend at Qurum beach in Muscat... It was a great day of extended beach-side walks, consecutive cups of decent coffee and private (sketch-book) contemplation... I'll be posting an Extraordinary Ordinary submission (photos of sand-patterns and other relevant paraphernalia taken during the day) in the near future...

I really liked the way the setting sun came out in these (almost black & white) pictures. It reminds me a bit of Olafur Eliasson's work exhibited in the main hall at Tate Modern a few years back...

Nizwa & Oman...

View from my hotel room in Nizwa...

I'm currently stationed in a city named Nizwa in Oman, where I'm teaching architecture at a local university. Oman is a truly awe inspiring and beautiful place, with expansive date-palm oasis, tall reams of arid mountains flanking extensive horizontal planes of reddish rock, and a monochromatically dressed population that, at least here, a bit over an hours drive from the capital Muscat, consists of women being dressed from head to toe black abayas and the men wearing white dishdashas which are always accompanied by either a distinct conical hat (a kumah) or a turban-like, wrap-around, muzzar. There's a certain benign eloquence to the consistency of the local wear that, in its uniformity, reflects the ascetic qualities of both the rural and urban environments...

At some level Oman is what (before Dubai became 'Dubai') outsiders to the region might have imagined the Middle-East would be, with camels and goats casually occupying the areas adjacents to streets and highways, and traditional, now usually abandoned, mud & wood buildings still announcing their benign presence in the more sparsely populated residential neighbourhoods. If you're planning a trip to the region, Oman should be included and allowed to occupy at least a few days in your travel itenirary...

Some of the adjacent mountain ranges flanking the drive down to Nizwa from Muscat...

A young Omani wearing traditional headgear...

Above and below - Scattered signs of modernity can be seen spot-marking and criss-crossing the arid and ascetic landscape...

The back of a mosque in a residential neighbourhood in Nizwa...

Young Omanis playing ball on a residential street...

'Chillaxing' Omani style...


A traditional door-way found in one of the countless abandoned mud buildings scattered around town...

A small canal delivering fresh water from an oasis to the various residential districts and date-palm farms...

View over Nizwa...

The Extraordinary Ordinary - Gulf Trees...

'Big Bertha' in Salwa, Kuwait...

Apologies for not posting for a while... The excuses are as feeble as they are generic, and I thus blame a lack of access to proper Internet here in Oman, where I'm currently stationed, and a severe case of preoccupation with work related matters...

However, included is an additional submission of Extraordinary Ordinary, introducing this time a set of trees found mainly in Kuwait, but there are also a few examples of trees from elsewhere in the region... Most of the trees included are of the, call it, less 'manicured' type, which often can be found outside the more groomed gardens and fenced areas scattered predominantly around the city's various residential areas... These are trees which mostly have had to, at least partly, fend for themselves (this consideration includes the fake and the semi-dead trees), and can thus be counted within the paradigm of 'local' (bona-fide) authentic Gulf/ Middle-Eastern trees. Their roughness and dusty textures, jagged leaves and often stretched and strained roots become a part of their character and charm...

Dead-tired...


Bowing & Showing respect...

The Three Kings of the Trash heap...

Plastic-Fantastic...

Big Ben...

Fighting Trees...

Hitch-hiking...

Suckling cars...