“Work Hard Until You Don’t Have To Introduce Yourself”: An Interview With Dubai In A Frame
Summing up her feelings on why she does what she does, Shweta Dembla calls upon a favoured quote, “Create the things that you wish existed,” she says excitedly. Her bubbly personality spills out over the phone, and it is clear from a lifetime of PR in her native Dubai, she has the gift of talking to people — and, if she sees a niche, she knows how to give people what they want.
Currently, those positive creative energies are put into Dubai In A Frame, a video-based lifestyle blog that highlights art, fashion, food and beauty all through the medium of film. Less vlog, more video journalism (she is quick to point out), DIAF currently boasts a unique selling point.
“I realised that mainstream Dubai media has no focus on lifestyle,” she posits, on why creators and consumers are turning to the internet. “There’s no dedicated TV channel, and the stuff that does come isn’t timely enough — stories break a month after they happen. There’s a huge lag.”
The internet is giving her a chance to bring some immediacy to the process of reporting, something she sees as sorely missing in the scene. Having spent almost 5 years in the media industry that she would later escape, DIAF is less stricken by rules that govern other forms of broadcast.
It’s also more personal, the focus of DIAF exists because they are her interests — it is a paint palette of topics she enjoys (so much so that some have complained it lacks specificity). The focus remains on the city because that is where her heart lies,
“Dubai never ceases to amaze me. Life here is very quick.”
The pace and centrality of Dubai has given her the opportunity to view, report, and network in fields that are all very glamorous. She could have exclusive access to a new car showcase, or front-row seats to a fashion week, or even interviews with powerful business owners.
But the city and its scene is not without its pitfalls. In an image-obsessed society, the name of the game is to be as appealing as possible — especially given how may cookie-cutter beauty and fashion blogs there are to compete with.
“It’s very superficial here. People will only entertain you if you have something to offer them. A great product, whatever that may be [even a person] can be damned by its packaging.”
It takes a lot (of many things, including money) to make it, something Shweta is not necessarily so keen on exploiting, “I’m not good at flaunting brands, I’m not ostentatious. You have to worry about yourself all the time — what you are wearing.” She seems tired of the consumer driven society at some points in our chat, but other times she perks up, “When in Rome…” In Dubai, one must play the game.
At first, we had assumed the angle of videography was designed to showcase the eye-catching appeal of Dubai — how striking it is. Not so, “It’s not to capture the city; still images can do the same,”she says. Rather, it seems, DIAF’s format works because it hands the talking power over to the interviewees and gives the people of Dubai the things they love the most — themselves.
It’s an opportunity to showcase the talents she learnt while working in the media — the film camera is her chosen method of presentation, something she does well. But in the city, no matter how good you are at something, there’s always someone with more sway. “It’s all based on access. There’s another quote I like, and I’m trying to live by: “Work hard until you don’t have to introduce yourself.”
Article by Chris Yeoh.
Check out Shweta’s work at Dubai In A Frame
