The final word
Joe McNally
WWW.JOEMCNALLY.COMI
t is a task as endless
as the desert. The Burj
Khalifa soars out of the
Dubai sands like an
elegant needle, seemingly
designed to pop the blue
balloon of sky overhead. It is a
magnet for the eye, and hence
the camera.
Cou r tes y of t he g rac ious fol k s
at Burj Khalifa, and the Emaar
Group, I was allowed to climb
to the top a couple of years ago,
and made a snap of some very
battered shoes (below right).
This time, with the training
given to me by the Grako
Corporation, and the intrepid
duo of Mike Flamson and Pieter
van der Walt, who are top-rated
industrial climbers and safety
experts, I went over the side
of the tower with a crew of
wonderful window washers.
These guys... geez. They
dangle from the side of this
structure daily, vaulting intospace on their ropes with the
ease most folks display when
getting on a bus. Their efforts
keep the desert at bay. The
sands rise up on the wind every
day, and cloak the buildings
of Dubai with a gritty shroud.
Ignore it, and it will smother
you. Fight it, and it becomes a
task worthy of Sisyphus. The
crews start at the top, shining
up the chrome and glass, get
to the bottom... and start over.
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112, as a newbie, can shrivel
ma ny t h i ngs deep i n side of you.
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never mind. Keep calm. Don’tworry about the nothingness
below. Your rig is bomb-proof.
Push off the glass. Walk the
wall. Descend. Shoot. Work it
the way Mike taught you. Wax
on, wax off. Establish a rhythm.
Smile. Enjoy this moment.
Go below the crew and look
up. Now your cameras are
getting pelted with soapy,
sandy water (right). Wipe down
your glass. Trust the gear,
with camera straps wired,
and extra tethers clamped
to carabiners. Each camera
swinging in space. D810, D4S,
14-24mm f/2.8, 16mm
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They do not fail me.
The click of your shutter
mixes with the squeaks
of the wipers. It is oddly,
pleasantly quiet. Like a
silent, invisible hand, the
wind will take hold of you
and move you. Let it be.You really don’t have a say.
Say the photographer’s
prayer: ‘Lord, don’t let me
screw this up.’ You won’t get
this back. Shoot from above,
shoot from below. Work wide,
work tight. Concentrate. Do
your job, while they do theirs.
It’s the coolest thing. You’re
in the world, in the air, looking,
seeing, with a camera in hand.
Sweat and uncertainty drip
off you. But, there is also the
knowledge that this is what you
were supposed to do – for all
the years, and right now, today.
On the other side of the fancy
gla ss, people sit. Computer s
hum. Meetings take place.
Great things are decided.
Or deferred. Words in the air.
Click of the shutter. Time
trapped. Absolute certainty
mea su red i n hu nd redt h s of a
second. A knot in the string of
time, not to ever be undone.
Have I mentioned how much
I love being a photographer?NEXT ISSUE ON SALE 10 MARCH 2016. TO GET IT DELIVERED DIRECT TO YOUR DOOR, TURN TO PAGE 36Slinging into space at floor 112, as a newbie,
can shrivel many things deep inside of you.
Your confidence, your... well, never mindImages: Joe McNally. Profile shot of Joe by Mike Corrado.146 March 2016 http://www.digitalcameraworld.com
When faced with one of the world’s most
iconic buildings, Joe takes a different
point of view... from the top down!