Ruksana Hussain, Dubai Photographer

You really never know when a new path will appear for you. That’s something that Ruksana Hussain learned when she relocated to Dubai after a messy divorce and found herself with a budding photography business. Her work has a great balance of warmth and sleekness, which works beautifully for high-end residences or hospitality.

Today, we hear from Ruksana about her background, her work, and her culture. She exudes the same warmth that is seen in her photography, so I’m sure you’ll become a big fan as well!

(all images courtesy of Ruksana Hussain)

Thanks so much for taking time to “chat” with my audience, Ruksana!

Hi Natalia, and members of the Grove Studio! It is such a pleasure, thank you for including me in such a supportive group and resourceful community! I have been poring over the website since I was introduced to it, and I cannot thank you enough for being a leader in this field for all the resources. I wish we had something similar here for women!

I can’t wait to hear about your journey. I saw in your bio that you are from Canada but are currently living in Dubai. Can you tell us about your journey so far, and leading to where you are now with your photography business?

Yes, Canada is home, but Dubai is also home for now. It’s a long convoluted story but I will shorten it! I moved out here for a change in scenery after a very bad divorce. I just needed some much-needed stress-relief time with family, as I have close family who also moved out here. The sunshine and warm climate in Dubai was also beckoning and was a change from freezing Toronto. While out here, with Dubai being such as an international travel hub, I started traveling and taking photos and started to publish them on social media (facebook, twitter). I happened to catch the attention of the marketing department of one of the top hotel chains in Dubai via my socials, and they mentioned that they wanted me to provide lifestyle photography content for their socials.

So I started my photography business with this in mind. I did this for a while but I kept on getting requests to shoot interiors - something I had no knowledge of, nor did I think was feasible for me to pursue. My first shoots were disastrous - think leaning verticals, over saturated rooms, super wide angle shots - I think every interior photographer starts out that way!

I have to admit, while I enjoyed shooting this genre, I wasn’t sold on the idea of shooting architecture and interiors - the hours seemed much longer, and I was not used to working ‘alone’, so I didn’t market myself as such.

Last year, I had a lot more interior and architectural shoots, and some of them were published in magazines. This got me very excited. Seeing the images in print opened my eyes to other architectural photographers and their work, and I just fell in love with others’ work! I had a new found appreciation for architectural photography so I went about exploring Dubai. A lot of it is ‘touristified’ so the challenge was to capture those from a more art/architectural/educational background. I have been trying to catch up since!

Nowadays I am happy to report that I am comfortable enough to call myself an architectural and interior photographer, and I simply love how I’m learning new things everyday!

You live in an architectural playground! Do you have any favorite spots or buildings that you’ve discovered but the rest of the world hasn’t yet? What’s been your favorite project to photograph in Dubai?

My favourite project to photograph is not in Dubai, it’s the Louvre in Abu Dhabi (the capital of UAE, about 90 km from the city of Dubai). The whole museum is an architectural masterpiece by Jean Nouvel and the dappling ‘rain of light’ cascading everywhere is just a dream to capture at any angle. Unfortunately just about everyone have taken its photos, so the challenge is to take photos with a unique vantage point!

Yes, I do have a favourite spot, and that is actually one of the buildings for Expo2020, but I have to get there, and the lockdown has not helped! The trick is to get out there before they are cordoned off by security or find new rules telling you that you and your tripod are not welcome there.

How has your culture played a role in your photography career? How was the adjustment from Canada to UAE, both personally and for your business?

My culture has probably been one of my strengths in helping me adapt to my diversified client population. The working expat population in Dubai is 90% foreigners. I had quite an international childhood - I classify myself as a third-culture kid with South Asian heritage, so I was quite used to changes and immersing myself in different cultures on a personal level. However, moving here as an adult and expecting a very western mind-set way of thinking from others was a bit of a shock, because working laws and conditions are quite different than in Canada, and this was something that took a while to adjust to in the professional front. For example, please do not be surprised if after a few minutes of meeting someone, you are asked for your business card or handed contact details for business purposes without knowing much about the other person. As a woman it may feel a little awkward, but now I know it’s considered perfectly normal for work reasons. It’s basically an ask-questions-later philosophy here if they like you work!

Speaking of culture, how have you found the photography field to be for women in Dubai? What do your marketing efforts look like? What marketing strategies have worked well for you?

The interior photography field in Dubai is like most countries - there are more males doing interior photography than women. It could be that the males market themselves more or better than the women, or the women don’t like to lug around the heavy equipment/leg work, I’m not sure. But lately, I have seen a rise in more women pursuing interiors, who are phenomenally good as well, so I guess that’s a good thing.

My marketing strategies, I am embarrassed to admit, are very minimal! I have started focusing on instagram, and so far it has been okay in generating interest, but I feel I need to do more to translate to more successful retention. I am learning some SEO and that has driven some traffic. For me, 80% of my clients have been word-of-mouth - if people like you and your work, they will stick with their favourites. Things move really fast here when a client is interested, (and slower with payments, I guess that’s everywhere!). I have also been lucky that I have met a lot of clients through plain networking in many social situations, so again more word-of-mouth.

You’ve done some beautiful conceptual photography work as well! What pushed you to transition from that to architectural photography, and do you find that your conceptual work helped prepare you for photographing spaces in any way?

Conceptual photography is my first love. When architectural photography came around, as I mentioned I wasn’t sold on it until recently when I realized how there were so many similarities - working alone to get a specific vision across, manipulating light (and objects) in a scene in such a way that it looks very subtle, and the way a space makes you feel is similar to how a conceptual photo is supposed to make you feel with emotions. The best part of learning to light interiors was that now I practise similar lighting in my conceptual work! I also find now that I keep my verticals always straight in my conceptual work, and I play with a lot of cinematographic scenes and lighting because of my architectural work lessons!

You’re relatively new to the world of architectural photography, but seem to have really found your groove. What have been some of your biggest lessons learned so far?

I am definitely a newbie in this field, but I am loving how every single shoot has taught me lessons in utilizing modifiers and how to light a space. One of the biggest lessons I have learned is - trust your assistant. I love all the assistants I have worked with, this is definitely teamwork and without them I would be lost. I have also learned that I need to carry backup tether cables! Another important lesson is be open to criticism and learning from other architectural photographers - they have a wealth of experience and even discussing something with someone like how to light a scene or how to price is refreshing for me, as I really do not have other architectural photographer friends here in Dubai!

Do you have a process or mental checklist that you go through when you arrive on location for a shoot? Can you walk us through your approach?

I usually pick up my equipment from the rental studio the day before the shoot. When I arrive at the shoot on the day, if I haven’t seen it before, I check my sun surveyor app because the natural daylight shots get me the most excited and they are easier to check off. If it wasn’t in the recce (reconaissance), my assistant and I do a walkthrough of the location and figure out shot order. I visualize if I prefer to do the shoot with or without lights. If something needs preparing (like bedsheets ironed or model walk-through, I tell the management to have it ready by a certain time for the shoot. Sometimes this doesn’t always go well because when I am shooting hotels, clients do not want their pools empty at 3-4 pm for the pool shot, even though I had requested this in the brief before and they had agreed! So during these times, we have to reorganize shot lists or reconfirm with the client any changes that need to be made.

What’s your most helpful tool, piece of gear, app, hired service, etc for your business? Are you currently experimenting with any fun new tools or gear?

App - Sun Surveyor
Tool - a good tether cable!
Hardware - I love my geared head and L brackets.
Software - love Capture One
Hired Service - assistant!
Production managers are a definite asset in any large interiors shoot.

I have just purchased the Air Direct Tether Tool, and I have to say I am disappointed at how slow the transfer rate is, so its back to the traditional tether cable again. I also took an online course in Capture One during the lockdown, and I love the possibilities! I would love to experiment with a really tall Benro or Gitzo tripod, but first I need to get more clients for that.

Thanks so much for a great chat, Ruksana! You can find Ruksana’s portfolio at https://www.ruksanah.com/ and can follow her on IG at @ruksanah_photo

Until next time,
xo

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