Ras al Khaimah – The Frankfurter Travel
Travel photography for THE FRANKFURTER: a report from the emirate of Ras Al Khaimah, in stills and on film. A travel report from the emirate of Ras Al…
A travel report from the emirate of Ras Al Khaimah for THE FRANKFURTER. One of the strongest shots is the aerial at first light: an old mud-brick tower on a rock spur, the oasis in the valley behind it and the Hajar range in haze. In the desert the sun stands so high for half the day that photography is barely possible — you work at either end of it, and the order you shoot in decides what the trip yields.
The aerial sits at the height of the tower rather than straight above it. That is the difference between a map and a view: from overhead the tower would be a floor plan; from the side it stands over the valley with everything the trip is about layered behind it — palms, town, mountains, haze.
The sun is in the frame. Shortly after sunrise that is hard to avoid, and here it is not worth avoiding: the haze over the plain takes the hardness out of it, the masonry keeps its edge, and the sky is allowed to stay bright.
For a magazine feature what stays empty beside the subject counts as well. A spread needs a picture that carries and a quiet area for the title and standfirst — the bright zone above the plain is exactly that area, and it happens at the moment of the exposure or not at all.
- Region
- Ras Al Khaimah
Watch the film: Ras al Khaimah – The Frankfurter Travel (2:37)