•   The Empty Quarter Fine Art Photography Gallery proudly presents ‘Still Alive’ by Scarlett Coten;
•   The exhibition opening reception will take place on April 6th from 7- 10pm at The Empty Quarter Fine Art Photography Gallery;
•   Scatlett’s new book “ Still Alive,†published by Act Sud and the Empty Quarter will be launched at the grand opening of her photography show. Scarlett will be present for the signing;
•   Exhibition runs from April 6-25, 2010.
The Empty Quarter Fine Art Photography Gallery proudly presents ‘Still Alive’ by Scarlett Coten, including the photographic exhibition and book launch.
In ‘Still Alive’, Scarlett Coten’s visual road trip takes us on a journalistic movie taking place between the spring of 2000 and the summer of 2002: a visual prose of her voyage into the Sinai desert in Egypt and of her encounters with its inhabitants, The Bedouins.
“We speak a language that I do not include/ understand. I feel with my ease and happy. It is the beginning of a long history of love between these people and me, between this country and me.â€
Leaving from Yemen and Saudi Arabia, this Bedouin Tribe is one of the first tribes to settle in the Sinai, followed by twenty others. Disseminated in this vast terrain between rock, sand and sun, these five thousand Bedouins of the Arabian Peninsula, who have today settled as nomadic pastoralists, are shown trying to preserve their ancient culture which is threatened by world globalisation .
Many of these tribesmen have to leave the desert for long periods to work in the oil fields and construction with the younger generation leaving for Suez, Cairo or Sharm el Sheikh to become taxi drivers, waiters or tourist guides.
‘Still Alive’ is a testimony of the enthusiasm, the humour and the modernity of this unknown nation: forgotten, neglected but alive.
For over two years, Scarlett’s work takes us beyond the photojournalistic, documentarian or social commentary style – producing a chronicle of an intimate visual diary of a road trip. It is her intimate approach that allows us to travel into that world. The work allows the viewer to travel beyond that which is known, to penetrate in the heart of the desert, working between reality and fiction to unveil in other ways the subconscious of mankind in the in the twentieth century.
APPENDIX
What is The Empty Quarter Gallery?
The Empty Quarter Gallery’s mission is to create a world-class independent art gallery highlighting Fine Art photography from the exclusive to the extraordinary. The artwork displayed will showcase the rich culture, history and talents of the region as well as accomplished international artists.
Who is Scarlett Coten?
Born in Antony France, Scarlett is a graduate of the ENSP in Arles. The artist loves to make these sudden voyages into the uncertain and the unknown and the sense of abandon, discovery and introspection that go with them. Alternating her work between colour and black and white, it has been over ten years since Scarlett started her travels across the world. Her work has been regularly exposed in France and across the globe and been published in major international publications. Her new book “ Still Alive,†published by Act Sud and the Empty Quarter will be launched at the grand opening of her photography show on Tuesday the 6th of April 2010.
