November 30, 2009
Dubai: Getting Pinked
In 2007, Magnum photographer Martin Parr was drawn to Dubai as an example of the raging excess of wealth — just before major economic systems hit the skids and the rich nearly everywhere toned it down.
Today, as the financial status of this hedonistic over-engineered play world teeters at the edge of financial collapse, becoming the latest flash point in the worldwide financial crisis, Parr’s shots from Dubai, as part of his Parrworld series, are like salt in the wound. I’ve never seen any analysis of this specific photo, so I don’t know if the women in the background, for example, are friends, relatives or even wives. What’s unmistakable, though, is the mixture of the prayer beads and the man, and babysitter in traditional dress embedded in the stinking rich pink-pastel, designer-everything, luxury hotel suite vernacular of Las Vegas/Beverly Hills.
(photo: Martin Parr/Magnum)
8 Comments Leave a comment
bystander said:
Wow. I nearly had a Where’s Waldo moment with the babysitter. She’s nearly camouflaged in this photograph. With my eye first drawn to Her&Him, then deeper into the room to the women seated, the pink bordered painting on the wall brought me back to the pink bonnet on the baby carriage. I overlooked the poor babysitter until I, specifically, went looking for her.
Clem Guttata said:
The youngster in traditional garb (a.k.a. the disappearing babysitter) is the only person looking at The Man. He’s the only one paying any attention to the baby.
The Ladies are practicing an expression of intense indifference common to teenagers and the idle rich. Most have it nailed, a few may need more practice.
ivyleaves said:
I was struck by the lips on the lady in the foreground looking like plastic surgery-collagen injected hollywood movie star lips.
bystander said:
Companion photos?
Slide show: Showcase: Dubai’s Improbable Tale (NYT)
PS: Public Square said:
While the candy colored lights of trucks hauling the sewage of Dubai away is clearly a stomach churning showstopper, I found myself most struck by this image http://lens.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/11/30/showcase-85. Dubai’s skyline of half-built skyscrapers in the background is bisected by a fence. Despite the appearance of strength and stability of the concrete pillar in the foreground, that fence is flimsy and propped-up with the dusty gray remains of construction on the right. While the vibrant colors of the flowers and background vegetation may contrast, they also mimic the shape and weight of the debris (both within the composition and perhaps environmentally). This also adds to the false sense of stability in this image. The dynamic diagonal that is formed by the fence (bending to the will of nature) and the landing bird seems to speak quietly of the permanence of change and man’s folly.
Stan B. said:
Being Parred is not unlike being Simpsonized. And, wait… isn’t that OCTOMOM!?!
Jaliya said:
If that man is the child’s father, I can imagine him thinking, “Dammit — a girl –”
lisa said:
Those feet coming out of the stroller are awfully big for a baby…