I guess the first and most important question your asking is who am i and why am i guest blogging this: well im a 26 year old Londoner in a strange situation: Im living in the desert: specifically Doha, Qatar - for those of you like me who didn't pass there GCSE Geography its a small peninsular off Saudi Arabia that sticks out into the gulf, that's right, within an hour and a half flight from here are the worlds hotspots, Iraq, Iran, Saudi, Lebanon.

as i write this its hot - when i say hot im not talking a nice English summers day of 35c im talking 55c - yep during august it hits 15-20 degrees above body temperature.

Why am i here, well my day job is working for George W Bush's favourite news channel - yes i work for the original Terrorist TV channel - Al Jazeera. but that is of no importance - what i hope to do is illustrate my life here in the desert.

i guess its a desert in more than one way, Doha is a strange place - even for me, first and foremost - Doha is a strict (Wahhabist) Muslim country - for most of you that will mean very little. on the ground it means quite a lot - that means in real terms, are several fold

1) a call to prayer 5 times a day - yes i get woken up at 4.30/5am by a wail from the local minaret.

2) all the locals wear traditional dress - all the gentlemen wear big white baggy dress like clothing called a dish-dash and traditional Laurence of Arabia teatowl head dresses, all the women wear full length black Abaya's quite often with a full face covering with only eyes showing.

3) alcohol - the sweet nectar of our god - strictly verboten under muslim law - but as i am an infidel (literally one who doesn't follow the way of god - in this case follow Wahhabist doctrine) i am allowed to buy alcohol - sales are strictly controlled - there is 1 licensed alcohol shop called the QDC - i have a plastic ID card with my monthly allowance of alcohol linked to that card - i can only purchase the amount my card specifies and no more. there are also a number of bars - usualy in the larger hotels - the 4 seasons, the ritz-carlton, rydges, movenpick, Mercure which serve alcohol at a greatly inflated price - a bottle of beer runs at between 30-50 rials a bottle thats between 5 & 7 pounds a bottle -

beyond religious law there are monumental differences between here and good old blighty

cultural differences.
driving.
stratified social classes.
value of money.
first world, second world and third world clashing.
mall culture.


Doha is a very young culture, for many years it was a protectorate of Britannia its entire economy driven by fishing and the pearl industries its local population was counted in the hundreds- then it gained independence from the uk, and then found a huge amount of gas - yes thats right qatar has the worlds largest reserves of natural gas - current estimates put it at between 500-700 years at current pumping rates. In the last 50 years (two and a half generations) the Qatari culture has changed from living in tents and riding camels to living in palaces and driving land cruisers. In a way being a Londoner who lived in central London (the south bank) i feel there is a lot missing from doha life – the lack of art, culture and theatre. Shooting with a wide angle lens attached to your camera can help create some memorable shots when you're doing portrait photography .

What i will be talking about is how i survive it, as i explore both this literal and metaphorical desert.

Your man in the desert - .M.