Transient

“Transient” is not about a physical place. Instead I have photographed a social movement and a transient migrant workforce.

Transient – Page 37

Image 37 of 38

Transient – Page 37

Demographics of Dubai

Ethnic breakdown. Approximately 85% of the expatriate population (and 71% of the emirate’s total population) was Asian (chiefly Indian, Pakistani, Filipino, Bangladeshi and Sri Lankan). About 25% of the population have Iranian origin. About 3% of the total population of Dubai was categorized as “Western”.      (source Wikipedia).

“Transient” is not about a physical place…

There is a temporary nature to the urban landscape in an area in which over eighty five percent of the population lives. A  population where most residents are here today yet will one day have to leave. The immigration laws in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), welcome migrant workers, but equally ensure that they leave when there is no more work, or when they retire.

This work is a celebration of Dubai’s cultural diversity. While many of the subjects have grown up in vastly different backgrounds to my own, we all share a similar story. We are all in this country to earn money to support our families, and to create a better future for the time when we return to the place that we call home. We all find a way to live peacefully together, despite our differences. We all enjoy the winter climate, and equally, we all sweat during the blisteringly hot summers.

Here we have Iranian, Indian, and Pakistani workers and merchants who are at the coal face of the Dubai trade machine, Emirati women shopping in the souqs watched on by tourists from Oman, Saudi, Korea, China and the West.

“Transient” highlights the breadth of cultures, living within this transient framework which is unique to the Middle East. In a country where the majority of the population is transient, I have tried to create a depth beyond the clichéd contrast of hand loaded wooden trading vessels moored next to a road bustling with expensive Japanese 4x4s.

Embedded in this series is another contrast too. Some nationalities, particularly those from the East are literally honoured to have their image taken. It is common to be stopped as I walk the streets and docks, by men asking me to take their picture. Yet, for now, they live in a completely different society. One which has designed and implemented some of the most protective privacy laws in the world. In every aspect of creating and compiling this body of work, I have operated within a legal framework that is rigorously designed to preserve the ideals and individual rights of the most conservative groups in society against the modern intrusions of the paparazzi and social media.