Photographing Qatar's Landmarks for Qatar Tourism
Qatar Tourism commissioned SARAB Art Production, the Dubai fine art architectural photography studio founded by Ahmad Alnaji, to photograph Qatar’s landmark architecture across Doha and Lusail, including the Museum of Islamic Art, the National Museum of Qatar, Lusail Towers, Katara Towers, and the 2022 World Cup stadiums.
The project was one of my favorites and a memory to last forever, despite the very high humidity that we faced during the project. Being responsible for photographing a country’s most stunning landmarks is something I am proud of. To categorize the locations we covered, let’s start with the cultural side. I photographed the Museum of Islamic Art, I.M. Pei’s limestone building on its own island off the Doha Corniche, a feature we used aerial photography to show, and the National Museum of Qatar, Jean Nouvel’s interlocking discs drawn from the desert rose. There was Katara Cultural Village and its open-air Roman-style amphitheatre, and Richard Serra’s land work East-West / West-East, four steel plates standing alone in the Brouq desert.
Then the skyline and the monuments. The West Bay skyline of Doha. Lusail Towers, the Foster + Partners towers that are the tallest buildings in the country. Katara Towers, the curved twin towers in Lusail Marina shaped after the crossed scimitars of Qatar's emblem, holding the Raffles and Fairmont. Place Vendôme in Lusail, a mall that looks like a palace more than a shopping center. And the two stadiums at the center of the 2022 World Cup: Lusail Stadium, the golden bowl by Foster + Partners that hosted the final, and Al Bayt Stadium, the Arabian tent-shaped stadium that hosted the opening match.
I was there in October, and Doha’s humidity was high enough that my Canon R5 fogged up every morning the moment I set up. I would wait for it to adjust, or pick up a friend’s Sony. It taught me something I have kept since: not every camera and lens handles humidity the same way. A small thing, but it cost me good light more than once before I learned it. I really need to invest in studying this phenomenon as I face it regularly during the many humid months here in the region.
I was really lucky as well to have advisors who helped -and still are- me shape the ideas of this project before we even flew to Doha. Through teamwork, a curated idea was developed for the locations, including the drone circling the Sculpture, the still lady in the midst of the moving crowd, and the framing of the icons against other architectural gems.
A brief this wide and unique requires different kinds of artists, and I am truly honored to have been entrusted with the most prominent landmarks in a small yet ambitious country. Each location asks for something different, and the work was about meeting each on its own terms. About creating unique stories for each location. Those images also became the basis of a Visit Qatar campaign with Paris Saint-Germain, which is its own story.
Check out the full fine art photographic collection we did for Qatar Tourism