“When I flew over the Tabuk desert, I thought I’d see a vast expanse of sand. I was wrong. It’s rock that forms this landscape. With its ridges, its shadows, and its stark shapes, it offers powerful perspectives. The craters and canyons form a tormented drawing; there is something almost violent in its lines. From above, I thought I saw the earth’s original landscape, as if the world had just been formed and still bore the traces of its difficult birth. This desert makes life’s ephemeral nature all the more palpable, but its terrestrial strength filled me with a mysterious energy.” Ariane de ROTHSCHILD

“I had the chance to fly over the Rub Al-Khali desert. I’ve known other deserts. None of them gave me this sense of a vast limitless. None of them had such tall dunes blown by the wind. I dreamed of the lost city of Iram that ancient tales speak of, and of which no trace remains. I imagined the caravans that once crossed these immense spaces. The routes they followed no longer exist. An unusual pink colour bathes these almost troubling spaces: if you set off to explore them, you would never return from the journey. But from above, you can experience their harmony as far as the eye can see.” Ariane de ROTHSCHILD