Saudi photographers Wed Khashoggi and Rawan Al-Turki started their own photography venture in 2009 when they realized the lack of artistic fashion photography in the region. They decided they would be the first to make a foray into this highly exciting field.
It all started when Khashoggi and Al-Turki were going through some old editions of Vogue magazines and noticed great photos shot by celebrated international fashion photographers. They realized fashion photography in Saudi Arabia lacked those artistic touches. That is what compelled them to start their photography hub, which they named “Clickers.”
It is based in Jeddah and Dubai. Khashoggi is a fine arts graduate from Egypt and Al-Turki is a marketing major from a Jeddah university.
“When we started our company we were clueless; we didn’t know what we were doing but our passion for photography pushed us to go online and research everything about it,” said Al-Turki. “We gathered our friends and relatives and started experimenting by using different lines, lights and accessories. We also did our own makeup and hair on the models, in addition to creating our own themes. That’s how we learned to use our creative side but we knew we needed to improve our photography skills,” she added.
Khashoggi and Al-Turki attended different courses but focused on their main goal, fashion photography. “We were not happy with the results of our random photoshoots so we decided to get professional help and that’s when we applied for photography courses in Dubai,” she said, adding: “We attended courses about best fashion photography lighting, editorial photo shoots, lookbook fashion photography, advertising photography and many more. We combined what we learned and what we wanted and created our own photography style.”
Clickers started doing advertising campaign projects, in which they instilled creativity in the photos. “We do this every year with different themes; we try to do extraordinary themes where we can be as creative as possible,” said Al-Turki.
“The most exciting project we worked on was the circus theme, it was very exciting because we built up the location in Khashoggi’s garage and we did the whole stage ourselves. The photos were beautiful and we got great reviews and response from our clients,” she added.
The photographers get inspired by anything and everything. “If we were working on our own project, we find inspiration in whatever surrounds us, from traveling and food to fashion and people,” said Al-Turki. “For a fashion photo shoot, we get our theme inspiration from the fashion line itself and we also do an interview with the designer to know more about her and her inspiration. Then we try to match our view with hers,” she added.
Photography in Saudi Arabia is not big yet. Many people think it is just ‘click clack’ and you are done. In fact, photographers go through a long process to get the perfect shot. “We have clients that call us five days before the photoshoot expecting us to create the theme, book the model, find a location and call the makeup artist and hairstylist in no time. When it is done in this short time, you are not going to get the best results,” said Al-Turki.
She said it is very difficult to get the perfect fashion photo shoot in the Kingdom due to the restrictions she faces everyday. “I have been struggling to get a permit but there is no such permit for photographers here. Moreover, we cannot do certain events without a permit and this has been my dilemma for years,” she said. “There are other obstacles that we are faced with, such as, finding the perfect model because many are not trained to be models. There are only a handful of models, which is why you will see the same face in almost every photoshoot,” she added.
Another challenge is finding good locations for fashion photo shoots. “We are sometimes forced to do the photoshoot in our studio because we cannot take the models outside, especially if it is not an abaya designer client,” said Al-Turki. “We did it once and we took the model to an open area of a mall; we had to choose a time when the shops are closed but we still had men following us and harassing the model,” she added.
Al-Turki and Khashoggi wish to open a photography academy here knowing well that Saudi institutes do not offer professional photography courses or college majors.
Apart from fashion photography, the photographers also indulge in wedding photography, baby photography, editorial and advertising photography.
Email: Rima.almukhtar@arabnews.com
