When Roland Michaud met his future wife in her native Morocco 50 years ago, he asked her one question: "Do you like to travel?" "Well yes," Sabrina replied, enchanted by the mysterious Frenchman she met in a library. But she didn't know then that he meant for the next 40 years.
It was a love with no frontiers that took them to Abyssinia in an old Citroen car in 1960, on a four year trip from Paris to Singapore and a winter on horseback in Afghanistan where they camped with the Kyrgyz camel herders.
Their images, which also reflect a 40-year love story, are on display at Empty Quarter, where we got a sneak preview tonight ahead of the opening. The photographs, such as this one taken of Indian camels in the Yamuna river behind the Taj Mahal, have an timeless quality that makes them resemble paintings.
Although Roland insists that it was not talent, just patience and timing that resulted in this collection of images, the pair clearly have a wonderful eye and the photographs are really special treat for UAE art lovers because, although they have published 23 books, their works have never been displayed in the region before.
* Roland & Sabrina. A Love without Frontiers runs until March 13th at Empty Quarter, Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC).
