Famous and Professional Photographer Profiles: JON HICKS : EASTERN DELIGHT

HIS LATEST PHOTO ADVENTURE TO KUWAIT CITY, BAHRAIN AND ABU DHABI, ON BEHALF OF STOCK LIBRARY GIANT CORBIS IMAGES, WAS FULL OF SURPRISES FOR TRAVEL PHOTOGRAPHER JON HICKS. HE TALKS TO CAROLINE WILKINSON ABOUT UNEXPECTED EVENTS AND NEW-FOUND EASTERN TREASURES

THE TRIP WAS MEANT to cover Kuwait and Bahrain, but just before I was due to take my connecting flight from Kuwait, the Arab Spring revolt kicked off and the foreign office advised against British nationals from travelling.

So I changed my flight to Abu Dhabi. Kuwait City is a very interesting metropolis with a harrowing modern history, but it's not too attractive: between one pocket of ostentatious high-rises and another, there's half a mile of empty ground, making it quite difficult to create pleasing compositions. There are great pieces of architecture to photograph, though, including the Kuwait Towers with its coloured spheres. Liberation Tower commemorating the city’s liberation after the Gulf War, and the Grand Mosque.

"Most of my work had to be done at night because of the weather: Kuwait City has a very arid climate with little rainfall, dust storms and. quite often, a thick haze blocking any tone in the sky and creating very flat light. During the day. I did the best I could, and for some shots that Corbis accepted, I had to replace the sky to give the scene some interest. If I ever see a decent sky I shoot it, trying to get the light at different angles - front lit, side lit, backlit and so on. If it’s a good sunset or sunrise. I’ll shoot it and add it to my archive in case an image needs some extra oomph from a little colour. Night shots, of course, were easy as the city dazzles in lights, fortunately more than usual to celebrate Kuwait's 50 Years of Independence, so I could shoot through most of the night.

"My days usually consisted of scouting locations for the evening, photographing street scenes and local people, and backing up images to my Smart disk and Apple MacBook Pro Backing up at the end of every day is an important ritual of mine, in case I lose or damage a memory card. Researching the most noteworthy and new landmarks is crucial when shooting stock, as there's always a demand for great images of tourist spots, and as skylines are constantly changing, companies regularly need to update their imagery. While first instincts would be to avoid commonly photographed places, these are the images that sell: as long as you research what's already being sold via stock libraries so you can approach the scene differently, you can still produce sale able shots. There are always new angles and compositions to try: I often introduce movement into my photographs to add interest and life, such as people walking or traffic trails to give frequently photographed scenes a different feel.

"As I can explore more of a city by foot, I always pick a hotel close to the city and keep what equipment I carry to a minimum: a Canon EOS-lDs Mklll. a 70-200mm f/2.8, a 24-105mm, a 24mm and a 45mm TS-E lens and a Gitzo tripod with a Really Right Stuff head for panoramas.

Normally, non-muslims aren’t allowed in mosques, but here you have free reign to go anywhere, even with a tripod

'After Kuwait. I went on to Abu Dhabi for five days. Most people go to Dubai as it’s considered the star of the United Emirate. But Abu Dhabi is trying to crawl out from its shadow by building a beachfront and introducing new architecture to draw in tourism. From a stock photography point of view, I thought this would make it interesting to go and shoot and possibly make the images more saleable as the cityscape is changing.

"As I hadn’t prepared to visit Abu Dhabi. I hadn’t done much research, so I had to rely on local tourism offices and guide books at the airport to plan out how to get the most from my few days. I stumbled upon a fantastic mosque: the Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan al-Nahyan - known as the Grand Mosque - it’s Abu Dhabi's newest landmark and is in the process of being completed. Normally, places of religious significance - especially mosques - heavily restrict photography, but, to my surprise, there were no restrictions at all. Anyone going to Abu Dhabi shouldn't miss it. It has a massive courtyard in the centre, which is a fantastic viewpoint for photographing people mulling around and the main structure. I spent a fair bit of time photographing the ladies in the mosque as they looked great walking in their Burqas: the shape of their dress made much more interesting images than the men as you'd get a striking triangular shape rather than blurred leg movement.

"I set a day aside for the mosque, arriving at 9am and not finishing until 8pm It was a treat to have a day where I could fill my boots with images, rather than struggle to get pictures of street scenes. You've countless different angles, patterns and symmetry to make the most of. It was also such a thrill because normally non - muslims aren't allowed in mosques, but here you have free reign to go anywhere, even with a tripod: you just have to leave the interior during prayers, which happen about five times a day. As long as you dress appropriately - long trousers and a shirt for men and Burqas for the women - photography is welcomed In fact, they even have a photography competition running inside the mosque. Other days I tried shooting the skyline, some of the city’s 2.000 parks and gardens, and also the new beachfront, but got stopped and told I had to get permission, which I was granted by the local government.

The trip didn't really live up to my expectations - except for the mosque, which was an exceptional find - but that's the nature of travel photography: it’s highly unpredictable Corbis did. however, accept a number of the images, so it was a success in that respect.

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