UAE Architectural Photography Studio Deed Takes Us Through the Abrahamic Family House in Abu Dhabi

Today the highly lauded team at the UAE based architectural photography group Deed Studio will be showing us around a gorgeous and massive project – The Abrahamic Family House. The two principle photographers on this shoot were Deed’s Masih Mostajera & Naghmeh Olfat.

The Abrahamic Family House is a grouping of three religious houses of worship: a mosque, a synagogue and a church, as well as a fourth space which is not affiliated with any specific religion and “[serves] as a center for all people of goodwill to come together as one.”

Throughout this project, you’ll find that Masih and Naghmeh have taken care to show the relationship of the seperate structures, the interplay of light and shadow, the structures’ grand scale, and in almost every frame add a well placed human element. Let’s check it out

The Abrahamic Family House is the creation of Adjaye Associates and has been created to “serve as a community for inter-religious dialogue and exchange, nurturing the values of peaceful co-existence and acceptance among different beliefs, nationalities and cultures.”

I appreciate how the Deed team conveys the shapes and textures found throughout this project. The bold lines mixed with the deep blue sky create a graphic series of images.

The folks at Deed share a bit about the shoot ady and the challenges at hand by saying “On the shoot day at the Abrahamic Family House in Abu Dhabi, several positive aspects contributed to the experience. Fortunately, the sky was exceptionally clear and blue without any haze, providing an ideal backdrop for the project. Moreover, the security personnel present during the shoot were incredibly nice and accommodating, making the process smoother.”

They go on, “However, there were some significant challenges that we had to overcome. The primary hurdle was that we had not seen the project location beforehand, so we had to rely on studying the light direction from Google Maps and the map available on the Abrahamic Family House website. This lack of prior familiarization made it essential for us to be well-prepared to capture all angles effectively. Another challenging aspect was the presence of three identical buildings, each with four facades and interior spaces, representing a church, synagogue, and mosque. Given that we only had one-day permission for shooting the complex, it was crucial not to miss any angles throughout the day. Regrettably, we did miss the best lighting conditions at the mosque, which was a missed opportunity.”

While they may have missed their ideal lighting scenario, I would venture to say that the time that they made these photographs actually works really well for this project. Consider this next shot for example; the crisp, hard shadows stream across the facade of one of the buildings, implying the shapes and presence of a second structure. I love a sneakily informative frame like this!

The interplay of light and shadow throughout this project hints at the shady relief that the Abrahamic Family House provides from the elements. Deed’s uses of figures in the frames add humanity, purpose, and show off the enormity of the structures.

The Deed team explains “Additionally, the weather presented another difficulty as it was extremely hot, likely impacting the overall shooting experience and comfort of the crew. Despite these challenges, the unique opportunity to capture the diversity and harmony of the Abrahamic Family House made the experience rewarding for our team. We were able to showcase the architectural brilliance and the spirit of unity embodied in the project.”

The streaming light here gives an ethereal quality to the scene and adds plenty of visual interest.

Throughout this whole series, the photographers have hinted at the enormity of this set of structures. This next image perfectly conveys the massive scale and intricate qualities of the Abrahamic Family House.

A hearty thank you to the team at Deed Studio for submitting this project to us for another great Project of the Week! You can find more of their work at deedstudio.com and on Instagram @deedstudio.uae.

If you have a project you’d like to be considered for Project of the Week, you can submit it here.