Photography by Spencer Shea
Spencer Shea is a photographer and filmmaker based in Abu Dhabi, known for cinematic, emotionally driven storytelling that captures the texture of everyday life. He is part of Chop ‘Em Down Films and co-founded Rich People Don’t Swim, an independent production house based between Paris and Abu Dhabi, collaborating with artists including eL Seed and Hassan Hajjaj.
This April, when times were uncertain across the UAE, Spencer lost work for a while and found himself with time on his hands. He noticed something else too: he and his neighbors were growing closer.
So he picked up the FUJIFILM X-E5 and the XF23mmF2 R WR and set out to document the place he calls home, the Najda neighborhood of Abu Dhabi, its people and the buildings they share.
Najda sits a 15 to 20 minute walk from the Corniche, ringed by schools that keep it busy from early morning until late evening. Spencer started with the neighborhood itself: towers catching the late sun, curved corner buildings, bilingual street signs and the delivery riders moving between them.
The XF23mm, roughly 35mm in full-frame terms, kept every frame close to how the street feels on foot.
In Spencer’s opinion, Najda has the greatest array of restaurants in the UAE: West-to-West Caribbean, Sultan Bakeries and Bait el Khetyar, to name a few.
The series spends as much time with the people behind those counters as with the buildings around them: the bakers, cooks, barbers, grocers and shopkeepers he passes every day.
“It's by far one of the greatest places I've ever lived.”
As the light goes, the neighborhood changes character. Building entrances glow against dark facades, balconies stack up into the night, and the street thins out to a few figures walking home.
Camera: FUJIFILM X-E5
Compact enough to carry through the neighborhood every day, from first light to after dark.
Lens: XF23mmF2 R WR
About 35mm full-frame equivalent, a natural street focal length that keeps buildings and people in proportion.
Portraits: FUJIFILM X-T20 · XF35mmF1.4 R
Used for the neighbor portraits, often near f/1.4 to lift faces away from busy shop interiors.
Spencer named the series after the Madness song “Our House”, which places home in the middle of our street. For him, Najda brings back the feeling he had growing up in his own neighborhood as a kid.
His thanks go to Abu Dhabi, the people in and around his building, and the Fujifilm team.
