On our shoots we have the privilege of dining in some of the best restaurants & cafes you can imagine, and a few of them are outstanding in every way. Mia Mia Cafe is one of those places. Located at the Festival Plaza amidst the Sheikh Zayed Road enroute to Abu Dhabi. It has a casual rustic chic vibe, fantastic service and a focus on sustainable and internationally sourced coffee beans.
Some places invite you in with more than just their aroma of coffee, they pull you into a story. That’s the feeling MIA MIA Cafe evokes. This cafe isn’t just a place for coffee lovers, it’s a space that speaks through design, detail, and delicious offerings.
Lifeworks Studios is a dedicated partner in the entire photographic process from start to finish: the planning & pre-production, on-set styling, lighting and photographic execution, a collaborative editing process as well as supporting deadlines and providing the standout material required for successful marketing campaigns & PR.
Our brief was straightforward, to capture the soul of the new cafe. Think warm, inviting interior shots that scream “Instagrammable,” alongside appetising close-ups of the food offering that’ll make mouths water. Deliver high-resolution images suitable for social media, print, and outdoor advertising to attract customers and build brand awareness.
But for us, it wasn’t just about providing deliverables. We are deeply passionate about coffee culture and it was about visually expressing the feeling of walking into MIA MIA, where every corner is a pause, and every coffee cup feels like a moment of escape.
Architectural photography is about more than lines and light.
Each image was composed to feel still, yet alive that MIA MIA offers.
This is where architectural photography in Dubai truly shines, when the design becomes the dialogue.
A Culinary Still Life
While the interiors set the tone, it was the food and beverage photography that added warmth and flavour to the story. We turned our lights toward the cafe’s most loved offerings, croissants that looked as flaky as they tasted, pastel-hued macarons delicately plated, and specialty coffee that made us want to pause between shots just to inhale the aroma.
Here, our goal was to complement the calm of the interiors with vibrant, close-up imagery. We played with textures, the golden crust of a croissant, the airy swirl of coffee crema, and the glossy finish on a macaron, each detail given the spotlight it deserved.
This shoot was a reminder of why we do what we do. At Lifeworks Studios, we don’t just capture, we translate spaces, stories, and sensations. Photographing MIA MIA was more than a shoot, it was a masterclass in how architecture and culinary artistry can coexist beautifully.
Whether it’s architectural photography in Dubai or immersive food and beverage photography in Dubai, our approach remains rooted in storytelling. Through this project, we didn’t just showcase a cafe, we created a sensory experience, one image at a time.
