Dubai Land

Nov 25, 201310 min read

Deviation Actions

Published: Nov 25, 2013

4.4K Views

EXTREME STREET PHOTOGRAPHY - VIII

Are there places were street photography is impossible? Are there countries easier than others, or harder than others? How is it street shooting like in exotic places, or places you never visited, places that are completely different from what you are used to? I asked a few street photographers around the world to share with us their experiences.

The Dubai Street scene, I suppose, is pretty much similar to other über modern cities around the world. Great light, tall buildings, people everywhere, nightlife, etc. This beautiful city most definitely has a lot to offer - but only if you can survive the scorching heat during the day, and the insanely incommodious humidity at night. Our summers, sadly, are anything but pleasant.

The best time for shooting Street here, in my opinion, is during the winter, and you can expect great weather right up till early spring - i.e starting from late October, till the second week of March.

After that, you're at the mercy of the Sun God for the rest of the year.

But having said that, Street Photography in the UAE (United Arab Emirates) in general, is still in it's fetal stage. While it appears to be somewhat developing, it is doing so at an excruciatingly slow pace.

Since I have already covered the topic on local etiquette regarding public photography in Dubai before - you will find the segment published in the excellent and freely downloadable PDF document, Worldwide Photographer's Rights, which was put together by my honorable sensei, the great Doug Richards -DougNZ, with the help of photographers and fellow deviantART members from around the world. However, for the reader's convenience, I have therefore taken the liberty of posting an excerpt directly from the document itself, because I believe that it best illustrates the do's and don'ts of shooting Street in Dubai.

Both the excerpt and a thumb linking back to the original PDF can be found at the end of this journal.

With that out of the way, I would instead like to share one of my experiences on Street photography in Dubai and the level of understanding that most people, especially photographers, have about this particular genre of photography, on this side of the Arabian Peninsula.

Street Photography 101

I was recently invited to attend a photography workshop, which included an hour and a half of lectures, followed by a two hour "Photo Walk" in and around the district of Deira, with a final stopover at the 88 Ultra Lounge Bar in Traders Hotel to relax, have a few drinks and enjoy the remainder of the evening; courtesy our hosts.

The workshop was hosted by a group of professional photographers from Egypt, India, Iran, Lebanon, Pakistan, Philippines, Sudan, Sri Lanka, Sweden, Syria, and of course, the UAE.

Innovatively titled, "Street Photography 101", the event was held inside a bright and spacious studio flat over at Discovery Gardens - it's a residential area in Jebel Ali, located just off the E 11 road, more popularly known as the Sheikh Zayed Road, which connects the two cities of Dubai and Abu Dhabi and it is also the longest highway in the country.

The hosts were gracious and polite. The food was nice... grilled chicken and mayo sandwiches, mini pizzas and Sprite mostly.

Overall it was a warm and friendly gathering.

One thing that I found a bit curious at the time was the presence of these five staggeringly beautiful young women who appeared to be models getting ready for a photo shoot. Models? At a Street photography workshop? Ah, who cares? I could sit there and stare at them all day! Besides, it was fun watching the other male, as well as female attendees acting all professional and struggling to pay attention to what the speaker was saying, while trying their best to ignore the girls. They really were that beautiful.

Another thing that I found even more curious (perhaps because I have never attended a photography workshop prior to this one) was that even though we had brought our own cameras, we weren't permitted to use them. They even made us sign documents and stuff.

However, as this was a "sponsored" event (I kept hearing the word "sponsored", but no one seemed to have any clue as to who the sponsors were), the only cameras that we were going to use during the walk would be the ones provided by the hosts themselves; Fujifilm and Leica cameras. Sweeeet!

Now I had never actually seen a Leica camera in person at the time, let alone held one in my hands before, so naturally I was super excited about it.

But that, as they say, was not to be.

The 'Erwin' Situation

After sitting through one gruelling lecture after another, covering almost every aspect of photography except Street, we were finally treated to a lengthy closing speech by one of the hosts (or was it the chief guest? I had stopped caring by then), who went on about how he was greatly inspired by the works of noted Street Photographers like Henri Cartier-Bresson, Robert Frank and Elliot Erwin --

"Um... it's Erwitt."

The Speaker: "Excuse me?"

Me: "You got the photographer's name wrong. His name is Elliott Erwitt."

...

Awkward silence.

Moving along.

The speaker, who was a fantastic photographer, by the way, then proceeded to enlighten us on the vast benefits of Photoshop (and Lightroom) and how the image editing software has single-handedly ameliorated the art of photography today. I wanted to cut in by saying "The art of 'Digital' photography" just to annoy the guy, but I decided not to pursue my impish tendencies any further, despite the fact that the words 'Elliot Erwin' were still up there on the whiteboard, staring down at me, mocking me.

Oh, and I forgot to mention that according to our esteemed speaker, the best camera hands down for doing Street photography is a Leica.

Fujifilm, however, did come in at a close second. Alright then.

Something Smells Fishy... And It Ain't Fish

Fast forward from a long and exhausting 25 minutes ride inside a cramped minibus from Jebel Ali to Bur Dubai, followed by a pleasant and thankfully airy boat ride across the Dubai Creek towards Deira:

It's 3:15 PM (15:15 hours) and I find myself in the middle of a smelly fish market, trying to avoid not just the nauseating stench of aquatic carcases, but also the still blistering hot summer sun.

Then, it gets weird.

The models, whom I had mistakenly thought of as tagalongs, turned out to be the most important part of the whole 'Street Photography 101' walk. They were the main event, actually. The whole idea of this so called "Street Photography 101" event was to take stock photos of girls posing on the streets all across Deira.

'Elliot Erwin' suddenly made a lot of sense to me now. The Street Gods had given me a sign and I ignored it.

Oh, it gets even better. We soon discovered to our horror that there weren't enough Fujifilm and Leicas to go around, so everyone had to take turns in trying the cameras out for 10 minutes each. There were 25 of us - not counting the organisers and the models.

But first, we were kindly requested to put our cameras away inside the minibus.

I had reached my breaking point by then.

So while the pretty models were being instructed to take their positions and strike up different poses amidst the stinking fish stalls, and ogling fish sellers, and the photographers began snapping away at those beauties like a school of hungry piranhas, using their equally gorgeous, but borrowed Leica and Fujifilm cameras; I thanked the hosts and made my way back to the abra (water taxi) station, took the next boat ride out of Deira, and back to the streets of Bur Dubai to disappear for a while.

Nah, I was at this Hyderabadi restaurant near Al Fahidi Metro station in Bur Dubai, where they serve the best milk tea in town.

So there you have it, the Street Photography scene in Dubai, at least from what I've experienced here so far.

I'm sure there are many Street Photographers lurking about in this oil rich country somewhere and even though it gives me a small amount of solace to imagine that they are quietly going about their business, doing their thing, capturing life as they see it; I'd really like to meet them someday.

Perhaps we could have our own "Street Photography 101" at a fast food outlet in Al Diyafah, or Al Karama etc, and discuss the finer points of Street Photography over Coke and fries.

Someday.

And Finally...

Here are the Do's and Don'ts of Street Photography in Dubai as published in Worldwide Photographer's Rights:

Dubai laws are pretty relaxed regarding public photography, except where photographing women is concerned.
You can take photos of just about anything; all you have to do is remember a few basic rules:

Don't take photos of women without permission.
If you do, make sure you let them know after, and pray they don't end up calling the cops on you.
Photographing local Arab women and royal palaces is strictly OFF LIMITS.
Taking photos of people on public beaches other than your own family is not permitted.
Do not and I mean DO NOT offer an Arab money to be photographed, as it would be considered a cultural insult.
Most malls permit photography as long as you're with your family.
It's always a good idea to speak with the police first before shooting in the area, you'll be surprised at how helpful they can be.
Photographing policemen without their knowledge is another big NO!

While Dubai laws are the most lenient of the seven emirates (states) when it comes to taking photos of people on the streets - provided that you've asked for permission first - it would be best not to expect the same level of tolerance from some of the, well, lesser states.

In closing I would like to say that Street photography for me is an artistic representation of how we see the world around us.