The unexpected simplicity behind Dubai's ostentation

Pharaonic skyscrapers, gold-plated cars roaming the streets and a seven-star hotel: these are some of the reasons why Dubai, in the UAE, is considered a true oasis of splendor and ostentation set in the arid Arabian Peninsula. But the luxury surrounding one of the largest investment centers in recent history is but a beautiful horizon.

Interested in capturing the lesser known side of Dubai, photojournalist Alex Atack toured neighborhoods where Indian immigrants who helped lift the sumptuous skyscrapers of the metropolis live, visited places where ambitious projects were never completed, and recorded the sandy landscape of areas that have not yet been transformed by real estate speculation. The result of their wanderings originated a photographic series called "Under Construction".

Born in England, Atack spent his childhood in Dubai and witnessed how oil profits made the city a destination for megaprojects. "We played soccer in Safa Park - a large green area with amusement park, ice cream and cafes. Two years ago, they dug a canal right in the middle of it and partially destroyed it, " he laments.

As they returned from summer vacation, he and his brother tried to guess from the car window the new ventures that had come up during their weeks away. According to him, it was common to see buildings "sprout" on empty land, old houses being demolished to make way for luxury hotels and streets being paved in regions where previously only had sand dunes. Following are the photographer's most recent impressions of the city in which he grew up: