The National's best photo essays of 2021

The National's picture editors pick the best photo essays shot by staff photographers in 2021

Cryptid lifts Sean Donn in the ring at Wrestling Middle East in Dubai. Antonie Robertson / The National

Wrestlers of Dubai

Antonie Robertson / The National

Full story: Inside the painful but friendly world of the amateur grappler

UAE frontline workers from 10 countries talk about the challenges of the job

Victor Besa / The National

Full story: 'The National' asked 10 people at the forefront of the UAE's battle against Covid the question: what is the biggest challenge you have faced while being a PCR frontline worker?

The Abu Dhabi artisans preserving Bedouin skills

Khushnum Bhandari / The National

Full story: Women’s Handicraft Centre celebrates age-old techniques passed down from mothers to daughters

How you make ice in the desert

Antonie Robertson / The National

Full story: Gulf Ice Factory & Modern Ice Factory – G&M Ice – in Dubai Investment Park started producing ice in the Emirates in 1976

Inside the UAE's only shrimp farm

Pawan Singh / The National

Full story: This is how Al Jaraf Fisheries produces millions of shrimp and fish in one of the world’s driest countries

September 11, 20 years on

Full story: Americans now resident in the UAE talk about their experience of that day

The UAE's retro water towers

Pawan Singh / The National.

Full story: From Dubai to Umm Al Quwain, the water tanks take us back in time

The UAE's 14 most quirky roundabouts

Chris Whiteoak / The National

Full story: From a fish sculpture in Deira to oysters in Ras Al Khaimah

The men operating the world's largest dhow

Antonie Robertson / The National

Full story: The enormous Obaid, a 20m wide and 11m tall vessel, holds the record for the largest wooden Arabic dhow in the world