Life through a lens: New photography exhibition at Tashkeel Dubai

A series of thought-provoking images that demonstrate the ever-evolving process of art and creation by six Emirati photographers will be presented at Taskheel’s first exhibition of 2022, which opens today.

A total of 30 images by Emirati photography practitioners Ola Allouz, Yaghoub Al Hammadi, Mousa Al Raeesi, Faisal Al Rais, Mona Al Tamimi and Maitha Bughanoum will give exhibition visitors insight into the creative process as well as mankind’s fundamental bonds with the natural environment.

‘From End to End’ prompts the viewer to question mankind’s synergy with the natural world. With selected works depicting intimate aspects of human existence spanning vast geographical distances from the streets of Satwa to the remote mangroves of Al Dhafra and the bustling coastlines of Zanzibar, the subtle details of each work highlight man’s unrelenting disruption of the environment around him: The microparticles of plastics worn by fisherwomen drifting into the seas; the remnants of fishing nets deposited in the seas of the Arabian Gulf; the dredged tidal flats off the shore of Abu Dhabi; and the plastic waste generated from communal feasts.

While in an untouched area of Dubai, nests an owl and her chicks. As their existence and that of their species hangs in the balance, the images stand as a bold reminder of the fragility of the natural world and the need for mankind to step up and fulfill its unequivocal moral duty to protect and preserve it for all time.

“The images that we have selected for this exhibition epitomise the relationship between each stage of the artists’ lives and creative endeavours. The participating photographers present ideas that reflect both the depth of their abilities and the abundance of their commitment to their craft, which has enabled them to encapsulate entire worlds within each work,” says Emirati photographer Jassim Al Awadhi, co-curator of the exhibition.

Jassim says that the images inspire hope of new beginnings after the end of every endeavour. “There is renewal at every end. When the end of the ends is reached, there is the beginning of new worlds. We hope that these works will lead to the beginning of other works to come.”

‘From End to End’ will run at the gallery in Tashkeel Nad Al Sheba 1, Dubai till March 1. The exhibition opens from 10am to 10pm daily Sunday to Thursday and Fridays (9am-12pm & 3-7pm). Admission is free. For further details and the accompanying photowalk series, visit tashkeel.org

• Dubai