Life Out of Balance

Photography Exhibition by Sham Enbashi

1

Life out of balance, is a series of portraits depicting an insight into the human emotions allowing the people portrayed to come alive in a physical realization. I captured a moment that is representative of something much larger about the person's character, providing an insight into the basic quality of this person's struggles in life. Why do we surrender to lifestyles we don't want? This is a question I asked myself and the subjects of my photography. We dream of a life where we can do the things we love but do not do anything about it because we think this is what life is meant to be like. In the series of photographs a black fabric symbolises these beliefs that have come to take over our lives. The subjects look relaxed as they surrender to what is in their minds inevitable. However, I believe it is us who write our fates.

2

When one tries to make a change, difficulties must be faced. The two walls creep over my subject symbolising hardships. The space around him to breath and move is limited. However, it is the two walls' proximity to each other that allows him to elevate himself from the ground and move closer to the sky where there is no limit to both space and air. As an architect, I wanted to relate my photos to the space give. The intention behind this photo is to create a continuation of the physical existing corridor into the realm of the photo. This photo was taken in Al Bastakia, behind house 16. The challenge was for the subject to be elevated from ground level and be supported only by his shoulders.

3

If we just manage to unravel all the beliefs that limit us from achieving what we desire. We begin to realise that we were given earth as a plain canvas referenced in this image by the plants and sense of limitless outdoor space that is non existent in the rest of the images. The subject's deep gaze into the distance symbolises a depth of possibilities for the future. The ones who preceded us have shaped the world to be what we know. Similarly we can shape the future to become what we want. However, a sense of loss is essential in the darkness of not knowing how.