EmiratesRevealed to capture UAE images

EmiratesRevealed.com, a new website to promote and sell images of all seven emirates of the UAE, is set to launch at the end of March, according to its developer, The Image Maker.

Yasmeen Stewart, Chief Executive Officer, The Image Maker, said the decision to launch the website was led by the fact that not many photographs, aside from major attractions and pictures linked to negative coverage, exist about the seven emirates.

Stewart said: "We decided to set up this platform to provide images both to individuals and professionals."

EmiratesRevealed.com, a Dh3 million project, will provide a user-friendly website where visitors can both download and upload images and participate in chat forums with instant sharing of these images.

Her aim is to promote images of the UAE, show the best achievements "and to point out what is really lacking to build a positive and appealing image of the UAE".

She said: "We hope our work will reach a stage where we can co-operate with the Federal Government in an effort to develop the country's promotion.

"The purpose is not to make money, but we need to make revenue in order to fund our projects in the less demanded categories, which I am interested in highlighting. The UAE has 15,000 years of history behind it, which has been proven by historical discoveries in Ras Al Khaimah," said Stewart.

Stewart said the website will be part of a global trilogy comprising Emirates Revealed, a TV documentary being produced by Discovery Channel, and Emirates Revealed, a book propjected to launch later this year.

Stewart said when she was making the documentary on the UAE she found it difficult to locate images.

The reason she discovered was that there was no commercial viability to produce such images because there was no demand for them. "I believe through this platform we are stimulating such demand," said Stewart.

The website is expected to roll out a video section for the HD film, in addition to photographs of the UAE in 12 categories, including images that reveal the history of Ras Al Khaimah and the culture in Fujairah and Umm Al Quwain in addition to the construction wonders of Dubai and Abu Dhabi.

"When EmiratesRevealed.com goes online at the end of March there will be more than 15,000 images on the site. We already have 25,000 images," she said.

The website, which is expected to be one of the largest individual sites, will commission photography projects in addition to placing the works of independent photographers in the UAE and to sell them at competitive prices.

In addition, Stewart has partnered with Corbis and its local representatives Graph East to compile all UAE related photos on EmiratesRevealed.com.

The website is expecting to receive sponsorships from local companies in the UAE.

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