"Dirty People"

*Amendement to this blog post. The issue of workers in Dubai is a complex one and goes far beyond the scope of this blog post and the pictures included. It was my experience during this shoot that none of the workers we photographed appeared to be working in any abusive or substandard conditions. I personally spoke to the owners of the factories and was allowed to walk free through out the factories unhindered. As I mention below, many of the workers spoke freely about their wages and the living conditions on site, though sparse and barebones, appeared clean and humane. The purpose of this project is not to make a specific political statement but rather to simply to collect portraits of a section of Dubai society that is rarely seen, but fundamentally vital.

For many of us who have visited Dubai, we've seen a virtual paradise on earth with streets paved with (black) gold. Unaware to most visitors is the stark and grim reality that much of this sparkling diamond in the desert was built on the backs of poor migrant workers from Pakistan, India and Bangladesh, often in unbelievably harsh conditions.

"Dirty People" is an ongoing personal portraiture project and these images were taken in various coal and marble tile factories in and around Dubai.

Many of the workers live on site or in labour camps allowing them to save what ever money they make and send it home to families in their respective countries. Though they were no doubt dirty, most of these folks had bright eyes and big smiles. They happily engaged with us and sometimes even pulled out little cellphones and took pictures of us.

Special thanks to Mike Jones and Urzala Weiss for assisting me on this project. Please click on images to enlarge.

Random shit at 1.2

Everything looks good at the bottom end of an 85mm 1.2. Throw that beast of a lens into a Jaipur street market after a dust storm and its down right criminal how shallow the world can be.

Had some time to kill before our flight back to Mumbai, so here you go....random shit at 1.2

click to enlarge for full effect.

Postcards from Jaipur

Rajasthan is one of the most photogenic places I've ever visited. Its my fifth time here in 4 years and I can't get enough of it.

Here's a few quick images I made between card dumps, model hair/makeup and clothing changes.

contemplating life in a step well

Off to Jaipur

Cosmo India April 2012 cover shoot. Working hard...or hardly working?

hardly working it is!

Just wrapped a cover shoot for Cosmo India, the April edition and barely have I backed up my drives when its off to Jaipur to shoot for some of my favorite clients.

This is my 4th campaign for a great Indian clothing company called Anokhi. The owners, Pritam and Rachel, have become like family and I wish all my clients were as open, conscious and welcoming as this family run business.

Tonia, Jai, Karen (mom in law) and I are all flying up for a fun three days on a 60 acre Organic farm just outside of Jaipur. We'll be joined by my trusty assistant Vijay and of course Mithika, my producer.

There's a picture around every corner in Rajasthan so hopefully there'll be a tiny bit of free time for some personal shots...maybe during the location scout as the shoot days are pretty crazy.

Why you will fail at your career

Excuses.

you hear them everywhere, though mostly they're in your mind:

too old
too young
in a relationship
have kids
not smart enough
no time
didn't go to the right school
dont have a good enough camera
the market is saturated
no one wants to pay for my skills
too much competition
not creative enough

with a little wisdom, some insight and a bit of self appreciation you'll start to see excuses as symptoms of your inner patterning. We all have an inner dialogue that essentially defines who we are and what we become.

Thoughts become words become action becomes character becomes destiny. Its as simple as that and you've heard it before.

People ask what it takes to become great, not necessarily at photography but anything. My advice would always be to watch your mind, forget about anything else...just learn to watch your mind.

That alone right there will define your success or your failure. Guaranteed. 100%

Once you become aware of your negative thinking and your tendency to make excuses, you'll begin to witness your deeper feelings and hidden opinions.

It takes a lot of work at first but you can change it. Just be aware. It doesn't have to be this epic monumental undertaking (though the results most certainly will be), just simply tell yourself that you no longer believe your excuses. You start to invalidate them.

Your mind will scream at you at first and call you a fraud and how dare you hold a new opinion of yourself...but after some time the new thinking will take hold and new grooves will be etched. The mind is fluid so when you cease dragging the needle down that path it'll fill back up as if it were water.

Next time you tell yourself that you didn't go to the right college or you live in the wrong town or you've got the wrong whatever just know that you only need to do one thing...

...change your mind. It's everything.

Wrapping it up in Dubai

I'm going to do a longer blog on this years GPP Dubai 2012 but this is just a quick post as I sit in my quiet little hotel room pondering the amazing week i just had.

I finally got to meet and drink beer with someone who has always supported me and taught me, directly, how powerful social media is. Mr. David Hobby, aka the strobist, you are a scholar and a gentleman...it was great to finally meet you and put a live voice to the blog.

I spent the week surrounded by amazing photographers. From the brilliance of Greg Heisler to the authentic dry wit of legendary photojournalist Dave Burnett and of course light master Joe McNally, the place was awash in photographic inspiration. I met a lot of the people who are dominating the online space; Zack Arias, Steve Simon, David Tejada and of course Bobbi Lane and David Nightingale. Claire Rosen and Chris Hurtt rocked their workshops and wedding photog Louis Pang brought down the house with his hilarious presentations.

Of course Mohamed and Hala put together an awesome week. Gulf Photo Plus is on its way to becoming one of the worlds premier photo events.

I'm a bit sun burnt and luckily have left myself a few days to relax and do some personal shooting before heading of to Mumbai. Between Dubai and the Auzzie workshop i've hardly seen Tonia and Jai in the last month...and am looking forward to a massive hug or two.

watch this space for some of the personal work on migrant factory workers in Dubai...should have some images up soon

m

Student work, Big Lights Far Away Sydney

I'm back from Sydney and in a few hours i'll be on a plane to Dubai. Except for the airplane food, I'm pretty much living the dream. The thing i love about travel is meeting new people and building networks and contacts. Sydney was just that!

We had an amazing workshop and a hugely awesome thanks to Sydney Photographic Workshops for hosting us. Check out some behind the scenes and student work! Keeping in mind that many of the participants have never shot fashion, worked with Models or Big Lights...they did an amazing job.

thanks to Darko, my producer. As well to Daniel and Wendy at SPW, our stylist Chris Tselepi, L&P photo for the gear, Steve Guzman for the behind the scenes video and of course our amazing models and hair/makeup artists!