THE WORLD IN LONDON

ABOUT THE PROJECT:

'The World in London' is a major large-scale, public art project initiated by the Photographers Gallery and supported by the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation, to coincide with the London 2012 Olympics and Paralympic Games. To represent each of the nations participating in the Olympics, a total of 204 portraits were commissioned of 204 Londoners. The project aims to celebrate the diversity of London's population and of photographic portraiture. More information to be found on the Website:

www.theworldinlondon.org.uk

I was commissioned for this project to represent Jordan for which I had two sitters Yasmine and Amir and this portrait of Yasmine, by the river in Chiswick, was the one that was finally selected:

 

The final images are exhibited as public art across London:

Victoria Park, Grove Road, London E3:                                                        27 July – 12 August 2012

Park House, 453-497 Oxford Street, London W1 (opp. Selfridges):             27 July – 30 August 2012

Below is a selection from both photo-shoots in Chiswick and Bankside:

 

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Brief Outline of concepts for both portraits:

Yasmine was fasting for Ramadan and therefore had to eat before day breaks. Fasting for a whole month, between sunrise and sunset, is meant to increase your spiritual awareness and bring about a renewed energy. For this portrait, I started thinking about how many of us try to bring about some ‘slowness’ into one’s life through rituals, religious or other, and/or try to find solace in some more secluded spaces in the city.  All these portraits were taken on a deserted riverbank in Chiswick in the first light of day.

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Amir has been working in Central London for several years and for this portrait, I was thinking that many arrive on the doorsteps of a metropolis like London with his or her dream of urbanity in search of new beginnings. However, well before reaching a metropolis like London, many would already have a mediatised view of it borne out the countless films and TV shows hence the cinematic quality of many of these portraits.