Recently published by the RM publishing firm, “Min Turab” is an unprecedented visual document about the radical transformation of cities and landscapes in the oil monarchies of the Persian Gulf. Using the landscape at the border between natural space and constructed areas as a central focus, it opens the doors up to us on a hermetic civilization that has shifted from the austere nomadic life of the Bedouins in the desert to an urban, capitalist, ultra-technological society. With nearly no human presence, Roger Grasas’ photographs are suggestive of a search for beauty in odd places, promoting the idea of a world sometimes dreamlike and other times disconcerting, but always filled with simulations. The conference will also deal with the concept of travel and its relationship with the contemporary phenomenon of mass tourism.

Roger Grasas (Barcelona, 1970) has a specialist degree in Photography (UPC) and a bachelor’s degree in Philosophy (UB). From 1998 to 2007, he combined teaching in the field of photography with commissions to perform editorial and social reporting. In the year of 2008, he began a new stage in his career in the Arab countries of the Gulf region, becoming a photographer for the Royal Courts of Bahrain, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates. Using travel as a common thread tying together his projects, very much in the style of a documentary, Roger Grasas’ art work investigates concepts in post-apocalyptic society such as globalization, alienation and hyper-reality. His work has been displayed at galleries and art centers in Spain, France, Mexico, the United States, Holland and the United Arab Emirates.

www.rogergrasas.com
Facebook: Roger Grasas
Instagram / Twitter: @rogergrasas