Located in the northern part of the UAE, Umm Al Quwain is one of the seven Emirates that make up the UAE. It is the least populated emirate and many areas are full of abandoned houses, therefore Urban Decay in Umm Al Quwain obviously attracts photographers like me.

The first time I visited this area was 5 years ago in December 2019 (just before the corona got us all) with a group of local photographers and already then the area was quite abandoned… this time however, about 50% of the buildings were already reduced to the rubble.

and you don’t even know if these ones are going to be here next time we come to visit.

Coffee First

Anyway, the plan was to meet with the C.C.Collective fellows at 8 AM at the National Museum of Umm Al Quwain. Since I was arriving a bit early, I stopped at Starbucks on the way to get an Ice Tea, and there was the most epic sunrise just behind it.

Parking

Once I arrived and parked at the museum, the guys came out and asked if we were going to visit the museum (which, apparently, opens at 7 AM). They kept coming out to encourage us for the museum visit with each new member joining the photo walk… therefore we felt obliged to visit (but not right away).

Visiting The Village

This is a photo of the area from 5 years ago shot on Fujifilm XT-2, and as you can see it’s already not in a tip-top condition.

Here is a photo of the same building from today, but slightly different angle.

And this is the area just next door. There are still workers living here, but already much fewer people than 5 years ago. The trash is, of course, a sad thing to see… Urban Decay in Umm Al Quwain is the most prominent among all the emirates.

By the time we reached this establishment, a shop owner of the baqala on the side came out to ask us if we were from the municipality or Dubai Government, or why are we taking photos? Looking at our group of mismatched nationalities and skin colours, it would be hard to imagine that we belong to any homogenous organization, so we assured him we were just here passing free time on the weekend, visiting a different emirate to the one we were living in.

Urban decay at its’ finest, but someone is now using this shop to park his taxi overnight.

Doesn’t look like these kitties are living a very tough life. Actually, looks like they might mug you for some tuna.

There’s still a cafeteria open in the area where the workers are getting some morning snacks.

In some houses there’s literally trees growing through…

And the former bathrooms are full of palm leaves…

Then there is this post office…

The kitty is greeting the mosque visitors.

The bunch of abandoned shops …

And a rare open one.

Don’t get me wrong, there are plenty of open and fully functional shops around the main road of the emirate; it’s just this particular corner got hit by a wave of abandonment.

The next in order, are the still standing dwellings… a bit shabby, but you can definitely find beauty in them.

And sure they do love UAE.

Museum of Umm Al Quwain

Then there’s the museum for 5 AED, where you don’t see anything much interesting, but it’s good to support local economy if even only with 5 dirhams.

Having cultured up in the museum, we hit the coffee shop, where we got into an epic discussion about art and artists, photography competitions and critique… didn’t notice time passed by, it was already midday and the weather was starting to turn a bit grim outside.

Driving Home

On the way home, the wind was blowing from the desert with might… I didn’t feel very safe to drive too fast.

Traffic even on the weekend day.

But finally I am home…

Thank you for checking Umm Al Quwain with me, hope it was interesting.

All the photos here I took with Fujifilm XT-4 and Fujinon 50mm F.2 apart from just a few with 23mm.

Take care of yourselves,

Get out and take some photos.

Anna