On 8th April 1961 the MV Dara, a ship carrying passengers between India, Pakistan and the Gulf, sank just off the port of Dubai. An estimated 238 people lost their lives. Some bodies were never found and relatives of the missing continue to this day to search for their loved ones.

Olivia Arthur imagines a survivor returning to Dubai fifty years later, and what they would see. Through photographs and small anecdotes, the viewer is taken on a journey through a city that is both awe-inspiring and alienating. A city which has grown at breath-taking pace from a population of 90,0000 in the 1960s to over 2 million in the current day, and continues to draw people from all over the world with its promise of riches.
The backbone of the project is the story of the shipwreck, transporting the viewer back and forth in history and acting as a reminder of the fragility and skin-deep nature of Dubai.

Reflecting this fragility and suggesting the feelings of loneliness and disorientation often experienced by residents of Dubai, the book is printed on transparent paper. The result is that the layered images fade in and out of view, interspersed with quotes, memories, and images of the shipwreck itself.

From September 9, 2016 to September 11, 2016

Gazebook, Sicily Photobook Festival
Piazza del Faro,
Punta Secca
97017 Raguse
Sicily

<a href='http://gazebook.it/Stranger-Olivia-Arthur' target='_blank'>More information</a>