A Strange Meeting In The Desert

Passion for photography and the desert and a fantastic story told in front of a fire!

- Nico de Corato

I use to go running in the desert. Both for training and competitions This time, I decided to go to Al Qudra to test some gear I received. After parking my car at the Last Exit, I started running crossing through desert along the cycling path.

Almost 30 minutes after the sunset, I could see not too far from me a 4x4 on the top of a dune. A man was alone up there near to the car, lighting a fire. Intrigued, I kept on going in that direction, till I reached him and incredibly he was Italian too! Two Italians, and a strange meeting in the desert of Dubai. He offered me some water, we started talking and he told me he never drove a 4x4 before moving to the UAE so I grabbed hold of the opportunity and proposed that interview him... and here we are!

Nico de Corato (NdC): Luca, who are you and why you are here alone in the middle of the desert?

Luca Lombardi (LL): Born in Rome, I moved to Sanremo [Liguria, Italy] where I lived for 20 years and where all my friends still live. I’m a professional photographer and I’m here in the UAE because I love the desert.

NdC: How did you discover the desert?

LL: I saw the desert for the first time on Oct. 6th 2013, while landing in Dubai, a city I fell in love with immediately and I decided to move here after a year only. At the beginning it was not easy at all; very few customers, a little money in my pocket, and I could not even imagine buying a car. At first the only way I had to see the desert was from a window while going to Oman for my Visa Run or during a Desert Safari (a tourist attraction I didn’t like at all) purchased on Groupon. But after I saw the desert first time, a new passion was born inside me.