Martin Becka has taken and developed a series of scenic photographs of Dubai using only equipment from the 18th century. They are Fox Talbot Calotype Waxed paper negatives, taken with a view camera from 1857, and the work was engraved on copper plates, inked and printed on hand made paper. The result is a marriage of antique and contemporary; modern-day Dubai seen through the lens of yesteryear. The scenes depicted in the 40 photographs have an eerie other-worldliness about them and seem almost an anachronistic archeological study.

Artist: Martin Becka
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Transmutations: Capturing Dubai using the 19th Century techniques in Photographs is open from 18th October 2009 to November 17th 2009 at the Empty Quarter Gallery in Dubai.