Gulf Photo Plus
Share
We are the Gulf's center for photography — now online! Whatever you’re looking to learn, we’re here to help.
Check out our photography workshops, state-of-the-art printing services, wide range of 35mm & 120 film, and more! Gulf Photo Plus (GPP) is Dubai’s center for photography, a community organization equipping and inspiring the local and international photography community year-round. With weekly educational workshops and photo walks, photography exhibitions, state-of-the-art printing services, and the region's longest-running annual photography event, GPP has long been established as the home of Dubai’s photography community. As part of our commitment to developing regional visual and critical literacy, we also provide opportunities for emerging talent and the wider community to partake in free artist talks, events, portfolio reviews, and more.
24/09/2026
What The Sea Leaves Behind, brings together the work of Maureen Daly (Maureen Daly), Reem Mohammed (Reem Falaknaz Al-Bastaki) and Reinilda Dernison (reinil), curated by environmental journalist Richa Syal (Richa Syal).
The exhibition traces stories of fishing, memory and environmental resilience across Bahrain, Oman and the UAE, looking at what it means to live alongside a sea that is changing, and what resilience really costs.
Thank you to everyone who came through.
Supported by Global Initiative
On view through November 7, 2026.
📍 Gulf Photo Plus, Alserkal Avenue, Dubai
𝐖𝐇𝐀𝐓 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐒𝐄𝐀 𝐋𝐄𝐀𝐕𝐄𝐒 𝐁𝐄𝐇𝐈𝐍𝐃
Stories of fishing, memory and environmental resilience in the Gulf
September 23 - November 7, 2026
The Gulf is a place of extremes. Its waters are among the warmest and most saline in the world, and its coastlines are being reshaped at extraordinary speed. Yet for generations, people have made their lives here by reading the sea: knowing where fish gather, when the tides turn, which creatures can be harvested, and when to stay ashore.
Across Bahrain, Oman and the United Arab Emirates, small-scale fishing communities are now navigating a sea that is changing beneath them. Rising temperatures and sea levels, altered salinity, coastal development and overfishing are placing growing pressure on both marine ecosystems and the people who depend on them. These pressures are inseparable. What threatens the fish also threatens the fisher; what enables one to survive can, in turn, place further pressure on the other.
This exhibition looks at that complicated idea of resilience.
Curated by environmental journalist Richa Syal () , this exhibition brings together the work of three women photographers based in the Gulf:
Maureen Daly () documents fishermen in Bahrain living with decades of coastal alteration.
Reem Mohammed () turns her lens toward the shark trade in the UAE, where ecological importance and economic value pull in opposite directions.
Reinilda Dernison () follows Bedouin fisherwomen in Oman whose knowledge of the intertidal world passes between generations of women.
Supported by
These are stories of endurance, but they are not uncomplicated stories of triumph. They ask what resilience costs, and who is asked to bear that cost.
Opens Wednesday, September 23 · Doors open 6:00 PM
📍 Gulf Photo Plus, Alserkal Avenue, Dubai
Shooting film in Abu Dhabi? 🎞️
Dropping off your film is easy. Find the Gulf Photo Plus | GPP Film Drop Box at 421.online Arts Campus, Zayed Port.
Just:
1. Scan QR code
2. Fill out digital form
3. Place film (or disposable camera) in envelope
4. Drop into box
We accept C-41 and B&W film, collect rolls weekly, and your scans will be ready 2–3 days after they reach our lab.
📍 421 Arts Campus, Zayed Port, Abu Dhabi - or search “421 Arts Campus” on Google Maps.
The Festival returns on 11 September – 25 October 2026. Under the title ‘Our Songs Came Through’, BredaPhoto brings together the work of over forty photographers and artists, presenting photography, video art and immersive installations by leading and emerging voices.
This edition carries a strong presence of SWANA artists:
Ammar Abdalla Osman - Sudan
Ammar Yassir - Sudan - ._yassir
Amera Elnaal - Libya -
Çiğdem Yüksel - Turkey -
Fatima Alam - Sudan
Fatima Joumaa - Lebanon -
Fouad Hallak - Syria -
Hashim Nasr - Sudan -
Huda Abdulmughni - Kuwait - .abdulmughni
Mosab Abushama - Sudan -
Noor Abed - Palestine -
Ntare Guma Mbaho Mwine - Uganda / US -
Wala Yassin - Sudan
We’re also honoured to be bringing the work of Majd Arandas (1994–2023) (.arandas), a Palestinian photographer killed by Israel in 2023, to the festival.
40+ artists from across the globe. Full line-up at bredaphoto.nl
Find out more and get tickets via the link in our bio.
You've shot the roll of film, now it's time to bring it to life 🎞️
The Basics of Analog Photography: Develop It! is part two of our analog series.
Learn to develop your own black-and-white film at home, no darkroom needed. You'll cover timing, chemical handling, temperature control, and walk out with a freshly developed roll.
BW chemicals included.
📍 Gulf Photo Plus, Alserkal Avenue
Book your spot via the link in our bio 🎞️
https://gulfphotoplus.com/products/analog-photography-level-2
05/09/2026
Mirage Hotel by Francesco Villa (Francesco Villa), published by Altana (altana) & a+mbookstore.
A mirage produces the appearance of something that is either not there or radically different from how it is perceived. Set against the backdrop of Dubai and the UAE, Francesco Villa turns the hotel into a lens for looking at impermanence: a place of arrival and departure, where identity is suspended and belonging stays temporary.
Photography becomes a device for measuring what’s fleeting. The image doesn’t aim to document reality, but to register its instability. What remains is not certainty, but a residual trace.
Winner of the Premio Max Spreafico at Fotografia Europea 2026. Finalist for the Lucie Photo Book Prize 2023 and shortlisted for Prix Maison Blanche at Photo Marseille.
128 pages, softcover with open spine binding and hotfoiled dust jacket. Printed in 600 copies.
Available now in-store and online, browse the link in our bio or visit:
https://gulfphotoplus.com/products/mirage-hotel
We hear you, Alserkal Avenue. We know you love a little performance, and we’re here to help 🙏
Buy a Kodak Charmera at Gulf Photo Plus | GPP and get 15% OFF your next matcha at 🍵
Just flash the voucher at H5 Lab/Cafe to redeem!
Tag that friend who loves matcha, digicams, and has a purse full of trinkets and keychains 👀
One-time use only. Cannot be combined with other offers.
Last Saturday we set up a free drop-in cyanotype workshop! 💙 Fruits, flowers, random stuff from your bags, all pressed onto paper and left to develop in the sun. The prints came out amazing ✨
That’s the whole point of our free drop-in workshops: come in, make something cool, take it home.
What workshops do you want to see next? 👀
Let us know in the comments, we’re planning the next one now.
Less than a month left to submit your work.
MENA Panorama: A Open Call for the Middle East, North Africa, and the Diaspora.
This is your reminder that submissions close on September 24, 2026. If you’ve been sitting on a project, now is the time.
Selected artists will receive:
• $8,000 in total grants
• Exhibition at the 2027 PhotoVogue Festival
• Publication across Condé Nast Middle East titles
• Virtual Portfolio Reviews
Learn more and submit your work on Picter (free) via the link in our bio.
Deadline: September 24, 2026.
Want to learn analog photography? 🎞️ Join us this Sunday for The Basics of Analog Photography: Shoot It!
Learn how film cameras work, get to grips with exposure, load your first roll of black-and-white film, and put it all into practice with a guided photo walk around Alserkal Avenue.
No experience needed, and no camera? We’ve got loan cameras available too!
AUG 30 · 10:15 AM–2:15 PM
AED 695 · Beginner-friendly
Your film is included, and once you’ve finished shooting it, developing at the GPP Film Lab is on us.
Ready to shoot your first roll? Book your spot! via the link in our bio! 🎞️
Click here to claim your Sponsored Listing.
Category
Contact the business
Telephone
Website
Address
Dubai
DUBAI
Opening Hours
| Monday | 10:00 - 19:00 |
| Tuesday | 10:00 - 19:00 |
| Wednesday | 10:00 - 19:00 |
| Thursday | 10:00 - 19:00 |
| Friday | 10:00 - 19:00 |
| Saturday | 11:00 - 20:00 |
Alerts
Be the first to know and let us send you an email when Gulf Photo Plus posts news and promotions. Your email address will not be used for any other purpose, and you can unsubscribe at any time.