Bryan Adams Recalls Giorgio Armani's Influence As His Photography Exhibition Debuts In Dubai

Bryan Adams' debut solo photography exhibition in Dubai was already a big moment - a music legend stepping behind the lens. But with the news of Giorgio Armani's passing, it now carries another layer: Adams' book Shot by Adams, on which the exhibition is based, features a foreword written by the maestro himself.

The Canadian singer-songwriter and the Italian designer long shared a fond respect for each other's work. Armani admired Adams' ability to cross disciplines with what he called "decisive, direct, and personal style", praising his drive to "express creativity across various fields with passion and consistency". Their collaboration extended into Adams' photography stint too - capturing the who's who of film, fashion, music, art and beyond.

Ahead of the Middle East debut, Adams recalled one of his most memorable shoots, with the late Amy Winehouse, where an Armani dress unexpectedly played a part.“She said she wasn't gonna wear that. After a bit of gentle persuasion, she tried it on, did the photograph, and took the dress home with her,” Adams told Khaleej Times.

In his foreword, Armani recounted seeing Adams at work on a portrait of himself and his niece Roberta, admiring "his ability to converse with those in front of him, making them feel at ease and then photographing them, almost unexpectedly". He described Adams' portraits as having a "singular authenticity - a rough timbre that is akin to his slightly raspy voice".

What stands out is how Armani also read Adams' photography through the lens of fashion, praising his portraits for capturing not only people but the "particularity of the models and their expressive power". Fashion, Armani wrote, through Adams' gaze became "interpretation and abstraction, fiction and reality", charged with a "vital energy that not all photographers manage to capture in the frame".

Now, as Adams' portraits reimagine cultural titans through multi-coloured plexiglass at Downtown Dubai's JD Malat Gallery, Armani's words give them a deeper resonance - a reminder that the elegance of truth outlives all else. With Armani's passing, the exhibition feels like more than a showcase of Adams' artistry; it also stands as an echo of a friendship between two visionaries who shared a belief in the timelessness of honesty and simplicity. The end of an era, as some might say!

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