SEE LV - a Floating Exhibition by LOUIS VUITTON
when I was commissioned for the SEE LV exhibition by LOUIS VUITTON I knew the challenge would not only be photographic but also it might be impossible for me to be in more than one place at the same time. After studying the layouts of the designs I immediately got my trusted colleagues on board to help me tackle the project in a timely and effective manner. Anna Shtraus and Alisa Poturaeva are brilliant photographers and dear friends too. I capped off the team by adding Ahmer Moten to help me manage all the assets as we shoot all the spaces.
Projects like these demand fast delivery, the images are usually needed yesterday, and I aim to please.
I did a recce with my team at night before the place was ready, and we showed up at sunrise to start shooting. My first goal was clear. As soon as you see the location, Downtown Dubai next to the tallest building on earth, you know what needs to be done. A winning exterior shot was essential.
This also happens to be one of the most crowded spaces in our fair city of Dubai, so the challenge was get all exterior shots done before it gets wild. The exhibition was opening in a few hours as well, so we had to cover everything in a short amount of time.
Now that’s a hero shot if I ever saw one.
I shot the exteriors with a Canon 5D mark IV and a Hasselblad 907x. Alisa used her trusted Sony and Anna was in Canon corner.
With the exteriors locked in and the sun starting to move away from us, it was time to do the interiors. Each room was a labelled a universe.
As soon as you walk into the exhibition space, you see a stunning NFT style digital painting, constantly moving and changing. Opposite the giant screen was this text that introduces you to the mind you are about to enter.
“MY NAME IS LOUIS VUITTON. I AM 20 YEARS OLD. THIS IS MY PORTRAIT CREATED BY ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE. I SLOWLY APPEAR FROM ONE MILLION IMAGES ILLUSTRATING THE JURA AREA WHERE I WAS BORN IN 1821. THIS YEAR I TURNED 200 YEARS OLD. DUE TIME TO REVISIT THE HOUSE I FOUNDED IN 1854”
I cannot even begin to describe the deliciousness and simple visual treat of the first room - the NFT world sweating away as this massive portrait contorts and changes. Hypnotic and beautiful.
I insisted on shooting all of these with just the Hasselblad, as I was curious to see the amount of detail I can gather from a screen.
The next room was fashion focused, with the large label of UNIVERSE 2 IN FASHION, the text at the start of the room prepares you for the sartorial trip ahead.
“DIVE INTO THE LOUIS VUITTON FASHION UNIVERSE. DISCOVER THE LATEST LOOKS CREATED BY VIRGIL ABLOH AND NICOLAS “GHESQUIERE, RESPECTIVELY IN CHARGE OF MEN’S AND WOMEN’S UNIVERSES, LIKE KIM JONES AND MARC JACOBS BEFORE THEM. EACH DESIGNER IS PRESENT THROUGH ONE LOOK FROM THEIR FIRST AND LAST FASHION SHOW. ESTABLISHED IN 1995, THE LOUIS VUITTON FASHION DEPARTMENT FINDS ITS ROOTS IN 1854 WHEN I WAS PACKING MY CLIENTS’ HAUTE COUTURE GARMENTS.”
My favorite room was next, a focus on travel products by Louis Vuitton. It was amazing to see the brand’s evolution in every transport revolution.
The final room on my list was this massive interactive wall that was just one of the hardest spaces to photograph. The way the eye perceives and the way a camera sensor accepts light is different so it was a big challenge to find a way to express just how damn cool this room was.
We all split as soon as we had all the images in the bag. I did return in the evening to get a few night shots of the set up and revisit that interactive wall that kept haunting me with it’s strange reaction to camera sensors.
I also had my Hasselblad 907x with me for the night shots, and since this was the first time I was using it for a commercial shoot, I really wanted to push it to the limits.
Before we had a massive library to burden him with, my assistant Ahmer took a few quick shots of my team and I together at work for that BTS game us photographer too often forget to play.
Even though we were not commissioned to photograph specific products, I just loved the transport revolution room so much I insisted we take quick shots of anything cool.
Unfortunately everything was cool. These are raw images we took for ourselves so you can enjoy the details of history. I am obsessed with the bags from the 1900s, and that’s the only reason you are seeing these images. I cannot get over them.
There was one more room which was a gift shop/book section. I did photograph it but the client did not need those images.
I am so grateful for the trust from LV to grapple this massive project, and I am so proud of team and myself for delivering such high quality imagery and service as well.
Special thanks to the LV team for the confidence and space they gave me to create such stunning imagery for them.
SEE LV EXHIBITION PHOTOGRAPHY
Project by Altamash Urooj
Photography by Altamash Urooj, Anna Shtraus and Alisa Poturaeva
BTS shots by Altamash Urooj and Ahmer Moten
I hope you liked this visual tour and journey of my team and I ! Which room is your favorite ?