VEER

So my family and I were on our way to a well-needed summer vacation in Singapore when our 9-hour first leg flight between Abidjan and Doha got diverted midair in order to accommodate a passenger who needed urgent medical attention on the ground. Our plane thus landed in Tunis for two hours or so which meant that we missed our correspondance in Doha and were left tired and frustrated sitting in an airport terminal in a country we didn’t even plan on visiting with about ten hours to spend waiting for another flight.

Well, unexpectedly, frustration turned into opportunity when the airline’s arrangement for us to settle in a nearby hotel saw a gentleman approaching us with an offer only a country as meticulous as Qatar in its touristic endeavors could have thought about: a five-hour, well-priced, air-conditioned SUV ride through and around Doha to discover some of the wonders Qatar has to offer.

Soon enough, with four-day visas stamped into our passports, we made a pit stop to drop our carry-ons, unwind a little bit and grab a quick lunch before finding ourselves riding real life camels under 46 degrees Celsius and pushing a 1000 CC ATV throughout breathtaking dunes in the middle of Qatar’s desert while discovering its one of a kind landscape, most notably its famous inland sea Khor Al Adaid.

Veering off course by way of frustration thus became memorable fun, discovery and a chance for a photographer with only one prime lens and no tripod to veer off its stylistic approach and explore a simpler, quieter, less is more type of photography by responding to the expansiveness before his eyes with the seductive lightness of four penciled captures telling the elation and gratefulness the place left him with…