The Setup Collective
A family being photographed together beside a dressed Christmas tree in a sunlit room overlooking the Gulf

December 2026  ·  Dubai

We build Christmas.You just turn up.

Every December we build one Christmas set in Dubai and open fifty sessions on it. The waitlist books them first. You turn up, we shoot it candid, and the edited gallery comes back to you.

The idea01

Every Christmas photo you have is missing whoever took it.

You have hundreds of them. The kids in front of the tree, the table halfway through lunch, somebody’s thumb in the corner. Good photos, most of them. In almost none of them is the whole family actually in the frame.

So we build the set and we bring the photographer. You get your session with nobody holding a phone and nobody being told to tuck their chin in. We shoot what is happening. Kids running at the tree, the grandparents laughing at something off camera, whoever normally takes the pictures finally in one.

You turn up. That’s the entire job.

Join the waitlist

How it works02

From the list to the gallery.

01

You join the list

Free, and it takes a minute. Pick your session and any extras on the form, so you know your price before you join.

02

We release fifty sessions

In October. Nothing goes public until the list has seen it.

03

You book your slot

The list books first and in order. Fifty sessions is all there is.

04

We shoot

You turn up and it’s already built. Candid the whole way through, no posing.

05

We send the gallery

Edited and online within two weeks.

The set03

Built for December, and nobody else shoots on it.

This is not a studio you can rent by the hour. We build it in November, curate every corner of it ourselves, and it runs for three weeks. The only way into it is a session with us.

A real fir dressed in bone glass baubles, brass ornaments and dried orange, lit by low afternoon sun
The tree
A thick cedar and fir garland running the length of a dark timber handrail
The garland
A brass candlestick, a cedar sprig and dried orange slices on a limestone ledge
The details
A dark timber door at dusk with a plain fir wreath and two floor lanterns
The entrance
A long table laid with linen, brass candlesticks and a running cedar centrepiece
The table

Real fir, real cedar, brass and a lot of natural light. No red plastic anything.

Join the waitlist

This is the look we build. The exact place goes to the list in October.

Sessions04

Three sessions. Fifty slots.

Every session includes the full edited gallery, online within two weeks. You pay when you book in October, not when you join the list.

Join the waitlist
Add-ons05
A bone book-cloth box with the TSC monogram blind-debossed on the lid
A bone envelope closed with a brass wax seal stamped with the TSC monogram

Two things you can add.

  • AED 3,999Christmas 2026 family video. A short edit of the same session, cut for sharing.
  • AED 499Christmas 2026 box. A hard box with ten of your photographs printed.

You choose both on the waitlist form, so your total is on the screen before you join.

Details06

The bits people ask about.

When
1 to 21 December 2026
Your gallery
Edited and online within two weeks.
Where
One place in Dubai. The address goes to the list.
Paying
Nothing now. You pay when you book your slot in October.
Sessions
Fifty across the season. The list books them first.
Style
Candid throughout. No posing and no shot list.

Fifty sessions. The list goes first.

We release them in October and the list books before anyone else sees a date. Joining is free and takes a minute.

Join the waitlist
Questions07

No posing and no shot list. We follow what your family is doing for the whole session and shoot it. If you want one everybody-looking-at-the-camera frame at the end we’ll take it, but the rest is real.

One place in Dubai. We’re locking it down now, and the list gets the address in October before it goes public.

Sessions start at AED 999. You pick yours on the waitlist form and the total is on screen before you join.

No. Joining is free and ties you to nothing. You pay when you book your slot in October.

Fifty across the season. The list books first and in order, so the earlier you join the more choice you have.

All three, yes. Check the headcount your session covers, and put the rest on the form so we plan around it.

Bone, cream, green, grey. Most things work. We send a short note on what photographs well once your slot is booked.

WhatsApp us