Think Dubai, or search it on Google, and the first images that strike you are of high-rise towers, hotels and glassy buildings. Most of the available images of Dubai are taken with the camera pointing up towards that tall tower or far towards that lovely sunset by the beach or the horizon of the desert, or selfies set in front of them. But what about the people?

Looking Down: Dubai (Part 1) from Moayad Hassan on Vimeo.

 

In this two-part video project which I shot during a short visit to Dubai I tried to present a different approach to looking at the city. I pointed the camera down, observing the actual life beneath those tall buildings. How the people walking the streets of today’s Dubai are like? I personally was not sure about that because my last proper visit to Dubai was in 1997, and things might have changed a little since then! If you are as curious as I, or if you are after a closer observation of the life of Dubai’s streets, well, here is a slice of that, shot while ‘Looking Down’ for a change!

Looking Down: Dubai (Part 2) from Moayad Hassan on Vimeo.

 

In the second part of this two-part project I visit the old(er) commercial part of Dubai (Burdubai and Deira) where the old souqs are. To be honest, this visit was not planned at all, I actually got lost while heading to an art event and ended up in the middle of the souqs, with no internet, google or GPS, and what a joy it was! This part of Dubai represent the Dubai I knew, the Dubai we used to visit and enjoy back in the 1980s and 1990s.

One can not help but to compare the mood of the street life between the two parts of the video, or the two parts of the emirate. The comparison between the two parts, although probably can not be helped, was not my aim when I started this project, it just happened to fold in such matter.

مشاهد قديمة من دبي ١٩٩٦——

I used a handheld Canon 5D MKII with Canon 85mm f/1.2L. Edited with FCP X.