Stephen Shore turns his lens to Abu Dhabi

A new body of work from Abu Dhabi by Stephen Shore is currently on show at Aspen Art Museum (until 9 October).

These never before exhibited photographs show Shore's unique way of transforming the world into a photograph without the need for moral judgement. "They do not strive for overt visual statements," Suzanne Cotter, curator of the Guggenheim Abu Dhabi Project says. "Nor do they engage in the conceptual deconstruction of photography's claim to truth and impartiality."

Abu Dhabi is "all about change" Shore says of the region which has often fallen into the long shadow cast by its loftier neighbour Dubai. Snapshots of lives, values, contrasts and contradictions all register subtly in print as Shore absorbs the environment - a city where Burka clad women front advertising and men in traditional dress drive sports cars. The older face of the middle eastern Abu Dhabi against its younger, more open globalised economy.

Over the past decade, the photographer of American Surfaces the book which was delivered in a Kodak processing bag, has shunned his 10x8 inch plate camera and taken to using digital to capture his snapshots. Embracing the accessibility and freedom the medium brings, Shore has been producing short-run books tailored to the recipient and project using Apple's iPhoto program.

This exhibition of Abu Dhabi photographs brings the digital image up to the same level as the rest of Shore's work. "Shore's photographic eye directs us to markers of time and of change" continues Cotter. And is there any clearer marker of change than a photographer renowned for their use of a 10x8 inch plate camera making the transition to exhibiting digital photographs?