Gonzalo Palavecino Photographs The Cosmopolitan Architecture Of Dubai Away From Stereotypes

“Dubai is a pretty luxurious city from what you see on television and social media,” explains Palavecino to IGNANT. “That’s the part of Dubai that is always in the spotlight, but to be honest, the other side of Dubai is what actually makes the city interesting. I wanted to show Dubai beyond the stereotypes of flashy cars, cocktails, and gold.” Moving beyond displays of opulence, the photographs in the series instead focus on apartment blocks, buildings, and bridges that are influenced by elements of Persian, Indian, and Islamic architecture. “The old area is where all the working class citizens live, and without that area, the luxurious part would not exist,” he says. “I wanted to pay homage to that area, because it’s where I found the soul of Dubai; an area where everything was honest. It has lovely architecture based on what the residents liked, not what tourists want to see.”