I was wandering through Alserkal Avenue in Dubai recently to soak up the creative vibe when I stumbled into the Gulf Photo Plus gallery. I wasn’t expecting to have my entire perspective on visual storytelling flipped upside down. That is exactly what happened when I saw the work of Majd Arandas.
The exhibition avoided high-end gear or perfect lighting. It was raw. It was literally composed of mobile phone photos and screenshots of chat logs. Majd is from Gaza and the work documented his daily life there as he simply updated his friends abroad on his status.
Here is what blew my mind as a designer:
We spend so much time obsessing over high-resolution assets and perfect composition. But Majd’s work proved that context creates the strongest content.
- The Medium: Seeing the familiar UI of a chat bubble, which we see hundreds of times a day, juxtaposed with the reality of life in Gaza immediately broke down the “fourth wall.”
- The Effect: It didn’t feel like looking at art. It felt like holding a friend’s phone. It forced me directly into the situation.
It made me question a lot about how we try to manufacture emotion in design. We usually try too hard. This exhibition taught me that approachability is the key to empathy. By keeping it lo-fi and incredibly human, the impact was heavier than any polished editorial could ever be.
Sometimes the most powerful design tool isn’t Photoshop but the raw and unedited truth.
