[insert]Paradise Lost: WorkInProgress

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Currently I’m working on a photographic series I’m calling “Paradise Lost”. The work is centered around the construction communities of post building boom Dubai. The labor community of Dubai during the building boom operated at a furring pace; with rotating shifts operating 24hrs a day. This invoked the spirit of the Deux Ex Machina in the seemingly endless landscape of structures in construction. Today, with virtually every crane frozen in place, what remains of the labor community race to complete infrastructure projects. While the construction of towers has halted, the construction of the pavement has not. While it is easy to neglect/forget how the streets beneath all of us came about, the efficacy of this event as a daily experience is quite powerful;and is an essence that I hope to capture through my photographs. I’m working throughout various construction and residential zones, which are telling of a different class, and strikingly different lifestyle here. Dubai is a living construction site, which grants one a unique perspective into the world of construction normally blockaded by 4×8 plywood boards. Just last night I managed to sneak into an abandoned building(project put on hold) through an open curtain wall panel. I’d appreciate thoughts and dialogue on the subject.

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You’re currently reading “[insert]Paradise Lost: WorkInProgress,” an entry on [insert]Stu

Published:: 17/04/2009 / 11:19 am

Category:: projects

Tags:: [insert], [photography], [politics]

pixielee 4.17.09 / 4pm

wonderful photos!

Erica 4.17.09 / 8pm

I tuoi foto e molto bene!
However, I dont think it depicts what your trying to convey, except the last one and the first one.

KateMoxham 4.18.09 / 2am

Hi Michael,
I am really happy to see this project and your intent. I think it’s a really important story. The weakest ones for me are the one without people in it – and any photo that requires reading text is a waste. Concentrate on trying to create a narrative within the frame – even the one of the man sitting on the mat looking at the camera begins to do that – we ask: What are those mats? Are they napping outside? Etc. Perhaps a different framing of that scene would have told more of a story – the way it’s centered now, it becomes more of a portrait. Speaking of which, there are two photo projects here: !) the portraits, which give a real, human face to the reality of those construction projects, and 2) the narrative of what goes into those projects. From you’re text, it sounds like you’re mainly interested in the latter, but I think both are worth pursuing. Great work – keep us posted!

Ahmed Mohtaseb 4.20.09 / 1pm

Hey Michael, these are great! Your idea reminded me of a really provocative collection about child labour in Bangladesh. here is a link to the photographers blog. http://tinyurl.com/cddsdm . I hope you can draw some inspiration from them

Bouman 4.21.09 / 9pm

Michael! What a current/aware pursuit! I have seen so much of this, but never to the extent or intimacy that you achieve. One crazy and obscene reality about Dubai is that should the economy continue falling, Dubai has the very unique stance of simply exporting the laborers…meaning that there will always be an elite façade maintained. No other city really has this unique and stunning option…and documenting that is amazing…I would love to see where and how they live.