Inside Sajja | A Labor of Light at Gulf Photo Plus
Inside Sajja | A Labor of Light is a photography exhibition currently running at Gulf Photo Plus. It's quite a special exhibition that was a result of a collaboration between Gulf Photo Plus and Adopt-a-Camp, a non-profit organization that provides everything from basic necessities to emotional support and encouragement to migrant workers across the United Arab Emirates who are broke, stranded, living in poor conditions.
Karen Dias, a documentary photographer became aware of a group of abandoned migrant workers at a labour camp called Sajja in Sharjah through Adopt-a-Camp. She proposed to share her photography skills with these men, through donated cameras and photography workshops.
This resulted into a photography series taken by the men, from posed snapshots to compelling story-telling images of their everyday lives at the camp.
Karen Dias wanted to share these images with the public, hence the exhibition. Her aim is to generate income for the men in Sajja. The photos displayed at the exhibition are available for sale (AED 400 for the 57x38 cm prints and AED 20 for the postcard-sized prints also available for 20 AED). All proceeds from the print sales will be distributed directly and evenly to the workers involved in the project.
I went on the opening night and was really impressed with the photos. Some very honest work and you can see how proud the men were with their work. I hope they get to continue enjoying photography and expressing themselves through their photos.
I strongly recommend you go to this exhibition before it ends on 29th February.
Event details
Exhibition is on till 29th February, 10am to 7pm Sunday - Thursday; 10am to 6pm on Saturdays
Venue: Gulf Photo Plus, Alserkal Avenue, Unit D36, Street 8, Al Quoz 1, Dubai (location map)