Tor Seidel Books

"Amigo," "selfie," or "dummy"--these are what Indian or Pakistani migrant workers in the Gulf states call the dolls that serve them as street signs and signal figures on construction sites. While the workers see these whimsical dolls merely as a pragmatic means to an end, the photographer Tor Seidel finds them to be works with great artistic qualities. Fragile and short-lived, in Tor Seidel's staging of the dolls, they make a grand appearance as unrecognized superstars of the hot desert streets. His presentation of the "mannequins" assembled in this book makes them seem curiously animated, radiating a presence and a certain aliveness, with a disconcerting effect.

Dubai was rapidly transformed by the discovery of oil in the 1950s. German artist Tor Seidel (born 1964) views this fragmented urban landscape from a distance. In his photographs, giant shopping malls spread out before the melancholy backdrop of abandoned, mammoth building projects.