Like the sand it is built upon, Dubai has its truths. On sand, nothing is fixed. Nothing is permanent.
Everything shifts at the slightest wind, and fate changes so swiftly.
Today, you are a beggar. Tomorrow, you are a king. One day, you are loved by all. The next day, you are just another face in the crowd.
You fight, crawl, claw your way up. Or else, you get buried in the sand.
At the end of it all, you go home dirty, old, and weary. So you lock away all your fancy regalia. And scrub off all that sand that has stuck to your feet.
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'Shifting Sands' reflects on Jed Bacason’s journey as a foreign worker for ten years (and counting) in Dubai, and it also captures the stories of other foreign workers in the city.
The ongoing project chronicles the entire journey of foreign workers in Dubai spread in fifty photos, from their arrival to their eventual departure. The series delves into the complex range of emotions and experiences that migrant workers undergo during their temporary residencies.
It's also a personal journey of self-reflection for the author, as he and his family are part of this demographic, traversing the ups and downs that, for better or worse, define their lives during these pivotal years.
Each migrant worker has a unique story - success or failure, luck or perseverance, love or hate, joy or sorrow. The recurring theme in these stories revolves around the nuanced experiences of workers in a big, foreign city as they navigate through various obstacles, including feelings of disconnection, uncertainty, and cultural disparities.
Jed Bacason, born in the Philippines in 1983, is a self-taught Filipino photographer based in Dubai, UAE.
His photography delves into the complexities of his identity as a migrant worker, highlighting the challenges foreigners face while seeking livelihoods in new lands.
After earning a Mass Communications degree in 2003, he worked as a journalist for The Philippine Daily Inquirer.
In 2009, he participated in the Angkor Photo Workshop in Cambodia, led by MAGNUM photographers. Since then, his work has been showcased internationally, including at the FORMAT Festival UK, Denver Post (US), Paris Photo Fair, as well as group exhibitions in Dubai and Southeast Asia.