If you’ve tuned into my Facebook or Twitter recently, you’ll know I’m finally back in the saddle, stateside, after a couple of fun and productive weeks in Dubai, UAE. I made my way to the Middle East’s skyscraper mecca for a number of reasons, one of which–I’m proud and excited to share–was my first official fine-art gallery show.
Having been uber-busy heading into the planning of this thingie, I went into it with low expectations–maybe even reservations–only to have them smashed to tiny little pieces. And for that I have many thanks: to the elegant curator, Elie Domit, who pulled together the group show–appropriately titled Kaleidoscope–as well as my fellow show mates Asim, Drew, Joe, and Vince, all of whom I adore. Also, I owe deep gratitude to the master planner, Mohammed Somji, and his right hand lady, Hala, who made all this happen. The two of them had been so very unassuming about the arrangements they had secured for the show…just a sort of “cool new gallery” they’d said. Just so happens that the gallery is the swanky, new, and architecturally stunning space called The Empty Quarter gallery nestled in the Gate Village area of Dubai’s DIFC neighborhood.
But, as perfectly fitting as it is, the biggest thanks I owe is actually to you. If it weren’t for so many of you encouraging my b+w New Zealand landscape series (some of you from way back from the first time I showed any of these images back at Photoshelter Keynote in NYC), this multi-year project that literally started out as scouting photos for commercial jobs, would likely never had left the ground as a legit fine art project, and certainly wouldn’t be hanging in Dubai. I’m so NOT a classic landscape shooter and had really just been privately moonlighting as one in order to push myself beyond my comfort zone…but all the notes of encouragement you sent my way really made me take it more seriously. And for that, I’m grateful. Thank you thank you thank you.
What’s starting as a trickle here with this fine art kick off, will hopefully be a firehose of more progressive material in the not too distant future.
If you happen to be passing through Dubai (do people do that?), the show hangs until April 15. All prints at TEQ are limited editions of 45 and are 16X24” on archival inkjet. You can see the entire series here (I’d love your feedback), and can ping the studio in Seattle if you’re interested in pricing or alternate sizes.
A supershort Facebook vid that Cody pulled out of his Flip Mino HD from the opening evening, plus a comic releif snapshot, compliments of Scotty and Cody after the jump. [Click the 'continue reading' link below.]
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http://www.facebook.com/v/82684126404
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coool shot of the entrance!
Well I won’t be passing through Dubai (or the US for that matter), so how about the Chase World Tour?
Congrats, Chase! Actually a lot of people pass through Dubai as it’s the main Middle East airline hub!
Great work from everyone as usual. Can't decide what I like more, NZ B&W;'s or the mohawk
Out of interest, is Dubai filled with a ton of super cars or is it just a misconception?
I don’t mean to be a debbie downer but I think you should read this.
http://tinyurl.com/dubaislavesociety
Get a haircut!
Wonderful!
Congrats Chase!
Chase,
Congrats on the exhibition, looks pretty tidy. Love the b&w; New Zealand series.
I saw an ad on TV the other day 'Discover New Zealand' that looked a lot like your stills from there – did you help make the video too?
You should check out Australia sometime. It's a pretty cool place – could probably even show you around!
Cheers
Chase, love the trad approach. Lovely understanding of the light and layers. Thanks for the reminder of where the bar is set. cheers, noah
@ michael: oh that article isn’t an artificial downer either – it’s all true in my experience. i’ve been there a couple times and this most recent trip – while it was my personal favorite because i was able to get around the ‘real’ dubai a little more and steer clearer of the plastic trees – it was certainly made clear that the place has some identity issues that need working thru. abu dhabi, the neighboring city to the south, by contrast, has done a marvelous job cultivating culture. will be interesting to see how this region pans out in the coming years thru this economy…
I just read an article on the gallery online. Seems that it’s owned by a Saudi princess. Zowie.
http://abdullahalami.blogspot.com/2009/04/outspoken-princess.html
Thank you Chase for the post, it was a pleasure having you and the crew.. I look forward to exceeding your now-high expectations of us next year
As an answer to the article about Dubai, yes Dubai is like any other city. There are the good, the bad and the ugly. I remember reading in that same paper, the Independent, many stories of injustice committed in London and all over the UK. So Dubai I guess is no different in that respect. It has its faults but it also has many many virtues.
It’s great seeing a busy commercial shooter still putting energy into his art. Beautiful work Chase.
When do you sleep??
Cheers,
Nicholas
LOL, nice haircut, punk style. Anyways some super photography.
Nice set…I’m attracted to b/w more and more these days in my personal shooting. A few questions: Is this series film or digital? How much post processing in PS or darkroom? What cameras and lenses? I like to show this kind of thing to my high school students and it’s always nice to have some behind the scenes and technical info. Keep following your passions!
Congratulations on the exhibit I really like your New Zealand Landscapes. Love the B+W it takes me back to the roots of my own photography and inspires me to work on some B+W projects of my own. Cheers to the whole Chase Jarvis crew. I’m near Seattle so if you put together a social in Seattle I’m in.
Your pictures definately deserve to be art Chase. I love your work, I hope you post some more videos of your photo shoots on here, they are very helpful to us growing photographers. Your work has inspired me to try and work together with other photographers to see what kind of collaborations we can come up with. Keep up the good work.
@ adam. it’s shot digitally. converted to b+w in photoshop. printed on epson. and shot with a variety of cameras, mostly nikon D3, hasselblad H2d, and Nikon D2x. Some are aerial, others are tripod, others still are handheld…all depending on circumstance.
Alright Chase, good to see you made it back to the U.S. after your trip out to Dubai. I managed to make it to your social media class at Gulfphotoplus and really enjoyed it – cheers! Next year, I’ll try to book a couple days off work and maybe take the 5 day course with you – if you’re back of course! Anyway, I’m about to buy my first digital SLR (had a canon film up until now) and wanted to know your opinion on what to buy (minus the Hasselblad, 5D Mark ii and the Nikon D3X as they’re a wee bit out of my price range). I was actually considering a swap to Nikon and can see you use those – the only thing being the specs on the Canon 50D seem much better than anything Nikon is doing at a similar price. What do you think? P.S. My girlfriend and I are heading out to the Empty Quarter to check out your collection tomorrow evening – looking forward to it!
I love seeing the Arab men in the traditional dress. Reminds us we are far from home in a good way.
Nice! I love the simple beauty of #8.
@Chase, thanks for the follow up.