A quiet corner of Al Quoz, and a lot of patience.
Dune & Frame started in 2016 in a rented room off Street 8 in Al Quoz, when Layla left a magazine job and bought a second-hand couch, two softboxes and far too much coffee. The first year was mostly friends' babies and the cafe downstairs. Word moved the way it does in Dubai, one WhatsApp group at a time.
Ten years on we are still small on purpose. There are four of us. We shoot in a daylight studio with big north windows, and we go on location, to Kite Beach at sunrise, to a family villa in Al Barsha, to a shopfront in Deira that needed proper photos of its baklava. We keep the day slow so children forget the camera is there and grown-ups stop holding their breath.
We photograph people from every part of this city, and we are used to it: mixed families, three languages in one room, a grandmother who has never liked a photo of herself and leaves loving one. That is the whole job, really. Making the picture feel like the person.
Daylight studio
A calm 60 sqm room in Alserkal with north-facing windows, a play corner, and space for prams.
Newborn safe
Layla and Nadia are trained in newborn handling and posing. Sanitised props, warm room, no rushing.
Two languages, no fuss
Sessions run in Arabic or English, whichever is easiest for the little ones and the elders.
