Follow the Leader
Ayyam Gallery, Dubai (DIFC) is pleased to invite you tonight, June 18 to the opening reception of 'Follow the Leader' by renowned photojournalist, Ammar Abd Rabbo.
Featuring a rare collection of fifteen photographs of Arab and international leaders taken at various moments of their life, Ammar Abd Rabbo’s new series offers an unprecedented glimpse at these leaders. Captured while on assignment and never staged or digitally manipulated in any way, Ammar Abd Rabbo manages to immortalize those moments reserved for private spheres that slip into view. An internal thought read across the lines of a face, a smirk and side glance, the way the poster of one leader is ignored while another is carefully cared for. With the eye of a journalist, each of Ammar Abd Rabbo’s images relay just enough information to set the scene, yet with an unfailing artistic eye, his intriguing compositions retain a graphic beauty. Whether attractive or repulsive in their political stances, each leader is a personality who engages our curiosity, and each portrait makes the same statement, that icons are simply human beings, sharing the same experiences and feelings as the wider public.
Born in Damascus in 1966, Ammar lived in Libya and Lebanon prior to ultimately residing in France in 1978. As one of the Arab world’s most important photojournalists, his work has been published in the world’s most widely circulated publications, from Time Magazine to Paris Match, Der Spiegel, Le Monde, and Asharq Al Awsat, where he signed more than 60 magazine covers, and his virtual exhibition on the photo-sharing website Flickr has had more than two and a half million visitors. From a twenty-year career, his portfolio amassed intimate portraits of head of states, war coverage in Iraq, Lebanon and Libya, world-renowned celebrities like the late ‘King of Pop’, Michael Jackson, as well as high society events such as the Cannes Film Festival and Paris Fashion Week. His first solo artistic exhibition, ‘Coming Soon’ was held in Ayyam Gallery, Beirut in early 2012 and his photograph of Queen Elizabeth II was recently sold at The Young Collectors Auction in Dubai in May 2012.
Ammar Abd Rabbo will be present to celebrate the opening night on Monday, June 18 at Ayyam Gallery, Dubai (DIFC).
The DIFC space is located at the Gate Village, Building 3. Please contact the gallery at difc@ayyamgallery.com or call +9714 4392395. You can also visit www.ayyamgallery.com