New York City based photographer, lends a skilful eye to a body of work that circumvents genres and spans the globe. His nods to the grandiose can be admired in his stunning landscape portrayals, while his softness and subtleties glisten in his documentary, street and portrait photography. Born and raised in the southwestern deserts of Arizona, his long lineage extends over 100 years in the region - it is something he carries and translates into his works from many different parts of the world. Gabriel has photographed global campaigns for brands such as Facebook, Lufthansa, Apple, Levi’s and more.
The color of India is the embodiment of culture. Whether you’re in a dye house with fresh indigo filling buckets waiting for garments, stopping in to say hello to the seamstress down the tiniest alley or witnessing a funeral procession through the streets to the ghats of Varanasi. Color tells me a very unique story about India.
I can often smell India. Even when I am not there. I correlate so much of my memory of places or things through smell. Most times it’s something you can’t quite make out what it is. The time I’ve spent in different cities of India all with their flower markets, spice markets, dye and perfume houses and just the streets. It makes for the most unusual and uniquely scented environment.
I’ll never forget being in a spice market in Delhi and coming upon a gentlemen heating and stirring very aggressively this delicious pot of chai - with maybe 10 men huddled enjoying around him. They conversed and he refilled their cups. The communal energy I found around food in India was something special and the smell of all the delicious herbs and spices reminded me of family and togetherness.
The inherent sound of bustling cars and people at a constant rate that only ever reaches a stillness in your brain when you get so accustomed to it over time. Nothing compares. It’s disorienting but also guides you.
I’d find myself sitting on a curb or leaning on a wall, observing everything around me - the colors, the scents, the tastes and all the sounds, this is India. The only way I was able to feel India was through all these things and yet there is still so much more I want to experience in India.