Dubai's Improbable Tale

[Robin Landseadel]

Photo essay from the NYT's James Estrin, photos by Lauren Greenfield:

	They journeyed to the desert emirate of Dubai by the tens of
	thousands. Laborers from small towns on the Indian
	subcontinent and white-collar executives from the capitals of
	Europe. They came seeking fortune, and they built a modern
	city unlike any the world had ever seen: a city with the world’s
	largest tower, an indoor ski slope and a honeymoon suite with a
	live whale shark in the window.

	A city where anything was possible. Sand too hot? Then build a
	beach with underground refrigeration.

	As the orgy of building ground to a halt earlier this year, the
	photographer Lauren Greenfield set out to tell the story of Dubai
	and the foreign workers who make up most of its population.

	“I call the story an improbable fairy tale,” Ms. Greenfield said.
	“Anything that could be fantasized could be built. It really was
	the land of opportunity. It’s more Las Vegas than Las Vegas.”

http://lens.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/11/30/showcase-85/