Often times we are unable to see what is in front of us. There are many reasons why we remain blind to our every day realities. Perhaps it is because we move too rapidly and are faced with more visual information than we can assess. Perhaps it is because we assume that through our past experiences we already know the genuine nature of the forms that cross our path. Regardless of the reasons, our obliviousness towards our daily visual realities remains true. Consequently, contemporary photographic practices have become an essential means through which we explore and understand our surroundings.
A photograph suspends, amplifies, and offers for consideration a visual composition that the purveyor of the camera supposes to be essential. It is a suspended moment that has been removed from a linear context or sequence. Consider the effect of stopping a film; the still persists until the movie begins again, but that moment is lost to the next as soon as the film begins again. On the other hand, a photograph has no fear of being consumed by the next moment. It exists in a vacuum, for the long term. It is this sense of permanence that amplifies and aggrandizes the still image, inviting us to deconstruct the tableau presented to better consider the fleeting visual experience.
The exhibition will include works by Ammar Al-Attar, Farah Al-Qasimi, Ayla Hibri and Michel Le Belhomme and will run from December 11th, 2013 – January 9th, 2014.
