Under the banner of pure capitalism, the countries of the Gulf are inventing a new time, more and more rapid, increasingly oriented towards an imaginary future. Desert Spirit is a travel story that bears witness to a boundless extravaganza marked by skyscrapers, artificial islands, and gaudy bill boards. The first image that greets the traveller who arrives /rom the motorway, is certain/y a mirage. If Dubai is a city-spectacle, a long with Philippe Chancel we access it from behind the scenes. The grand scenarios offered by the desert are both real and highly metaphorical. Visiting Dubai today, with images showing the signs of buildings in progress, means experiencing on a daily hasts the split between the real and the virtual city. Chancel plays on this ambiguity, stunning the observer with general images, including real aerial views and visions just sketched out, up to the limit of indecision. Orienting yourself becomes a very difficult undertaking, as there is no reference ta a human trace. Through Philippe Chancel's lens, Dubai, created in the desert, remains purely desert-like, uninhabited.