“Daytime temperatures exceed 45°C, Sandstorms can destroy months of work in seconds. Each decision has millions of dollars at stake. Just another day in the office.”

quote from a Schlumberger recruitment poster

A much awaited email from Schlumberger had barely three lines,  amidst which there was a capitalised word under the location prompt, which read Al-Udhailiyah. The place was as obscure as it sounds (in 2011 even google maps gave me the ‘maps can’t find Al-Udhailiyah message’) and it was my first post.

On arriving, however, I was welcomed by a vast landscape of barren desert, and an unceasing range of sand dunes, which were only interrupted by monumental rigs. These were unimaginable  360º views, of majorly only two hues, the yellows and the blues. My new Nikon D3100, learnt what its widest available 18mm could capture, and still not capture even half of what the boundless Saudi Arabian terrain had to offer.

“Through many days and through many a night, through 55º C temperatures to an isolated site. While composing a photo in this listless abandon, the sandy sound was a peculiar musical delight.”

-infinite explorer