An interview with award winning architectural photographer & filmmaker Shoayb Khattab

“My goal is to enjoy what I am doing, I rarely get bored from photographing architecture and interior. In fact, if you were to ask what I would love to do during my free time, I would say explore and capture architectural buildings and elements.”

Shoayb Khattab is an international award-winning filmmaker & photographer. He lives and works in the UAE where he came to develop his skills in both photo and video fields.

Following a successful study of art throughout his childhood, he earned himself a distinction and awards for his skills in drawing. Shoayb transformed that art obsession and passion into a profession which has earned him more than 40+ local and international award in the fields of photography and filmmaking.

A degree in architecture bridged the gap for Shoayb from drawing to photography. This not only laid the foundation for his work in architectural photography, but also for his work in video production and content creation. Fascinated by all kinds of photography, Shoayb splits his time developing skills in every area, but none perhaps as much as architectural filmmaking and photography where his work is most inspired.

The opportunities to discover new angles, new perspectives, and new visions that Architectural photography provides speak deeply and inspirationally to him as both a photographer and artist.

Hi Shoayb, I hope all is safe and well with you and many thanks for taking the time to share with our community. 

I was so thrilled when I came across your work recently. Can I congratulate you on a superb portfolio, your work is incredibly beautiful and well thought out through composition and light.

As a photographer and videographer, what has been keeping you occupied over the past year or so?

First of all thanks Pete for building such a wonderful community, it’s an honor to be featured here among other talented photographers in the field. Appreciate your kind words.

The honour is certainly all ours…

Well, 2020 was a difficult year for everyone around the world, but it’s great that we managed to progress and learn from it in many aspects, so let’s focus on the positive side.

I managed to work with new clients, new interesting projects, meet new people whether physically or virtually, one of them is to get connected with this community which I believe wouldn't really happen if we were living the normal life we used to where we had all the meetings and interviews physically.

Before speaking about the next point, I would like to give a brief background about myself for those who doesn’t know me.

I am an architect by profession but I left Architecture to pursue photography and filmmaking, and more specifically focusing on architecture mainly, but I still do a lot of other stuff of photography and videography, and I believe that helped me a lot in passing 2020.

In terms of architecture, it wasn’t really good year for me, I had few architectural and interior projects but on the other side I managed to work with very big names in the corporate and commercial industry.

I worked with Microsoft during the lockdown peak period for corporate documentary about online learning through Microsoft Teams, worked with Baker Hughes, Hertz and some other brands. So I would say my experience in different fields paid off during this period.

Now we are at first quarter of 2021, I can see things are changing a lot in a great way, and now I started in getting back to do what I love the most which is the architectural and interior field.

I love doing both photos and videos but my plans for 2021 is to put more efforts in the video work which I was doing for the past years but I still didn’t take the full advantage of it.

I love your video work, and I like the pace you use in your final cut. I agree when you were saying in the takeover I prefer a slower cut and pace as this gives you more time to soak up the atmosphere of the building.

Could you tell us a bit more about your past, your ethos and how you approach your photography & video work currently?

Like many others, photography started as a hobby for me, I was doing it for fun, I never had the mentality to pursue it as a profession at that time, but when I was working in a full time job as an architect I didn’t have any time to do photography on the side, so I thought why not to combine the two passions I have which are architecture and photography together, so I took that decision and left my job to start my own business.

My goal is to enjoy what I am doing, I rarely get bored from photographing architecture and interior. In fact, if you were to ask what I would love to do during my free time, I would say explore and capture architectural buildings and elements.

I think this has defined my approach in working with my clients, I would start by doing initial scouting of the project then take my time in capturing the perfect moment with a great lighting scenario, it doesn’t go that way always but I try to push for that direction when I work and try my best to explain it to the client. I believe if you end up with only 5-10 successful images it would be much better than having hundreds of normal snapshots.

This is a great approach which I admire a lot. We are so lucky to love what we both do.

My wife finds it incredibly boring when we’re away on holiday that all I’m doing is photographing architecture and interiors. That and getting her to model by standing by the buildings or walking past them….she hates it. I think secretly I get her to stand and pose just to annoy her…don’t tell her I told her that though…shhhhh

Can you also tell us a bit about Mass House Studio?

Sure, so this is the studio I established when I left my job. I was looking to start my own business and to separate my business brand from personal brand. For me, I would like to be known for my architectural and interior work but as business we do almost anything else from documentaries, interviews, products, events and many more. Our main focus is on the corporate world. It’s growing well, I started it by myself and now we are a team of four members.

Great job. I can see the sense in that. I’ve been offering other types of photography for a while, but I’m more know for the interior work. It can be a fine balance to portray yourself as a master in your field and not a jack of all trades as they say.

I see you do a lot of filming to, do you see the future of photography changing much in regards to the use of this genre?

Yes definitely.

Like most people, I started with photography but I noticed the market demand more of video work, especially in the corporate world. Since then, I’ve thought of taking that step and developing my style more in my architectural work.

I did some video work in the architectural field but I still think that I didn’t take it to the full potential. This is a main goal for me to work on for this year.

I’ve been slowing getting my video work up to speed, however it takes time to build a decent portfolio that marries with the quality of my photography. I’m definitely enjoying the learning curve though.

What is the interior and architectural scene like in your area? Is this where do you do most of your work?

I am located in Dubai, UAE, and this is most of my work is happening.

I had some potential projects in Saudi Arabia last year but all of them got postponed or cancelled due to the pandemic situation. In Dubai, I can see a lot of potentials especially with the new Expo of Dubai and the ongoing projects being constructed. 

Every year there is a new landmark being planned and built. It has been slowed down a lot recently, especially in the large scale projects but as residential and interior work its picking up again. If you look at it as a whole region then definitely Saudi Arabia is very promising market due to the ongoing development they have for their 2030 vision.

I’ll have to look into that. The architectural landscape in the UAE is fascinating to me.

As a photography community we love a bit of gear talk, could you tell us what equipment you have in your bag and enlighten those who aren't familiar a little bit more about your process.

I used to be Canon user and I am still, but I have shifted a little towards Sony especially when it comes to video work.

For photos I mainly use Canon 5D with Canon Tilt and Shift Lenses, but sometimes I use Sony A7R with teleconverter to use Canon Tilt and Shift lenses. I feel it is a little more compact and I am more comfortable shooting both photos and videos with it.

When it comes to video then I still use Sony A7R in addition to the A7S series. Most of the time one of them is left shooting timelapse on an automatic slider and the other I usually use with a gimbal whether its Ronin or Zhyiun.

When it comes to the video lenses I still use Canon Tilt Shift lenses in addition to Sony lenses. I have few lenses but I would say about 90% of the time I am using either Canon TS-E 17 or Zeiss 35 f/1.4

My process is to shoot tethered to a laptop whenever I have the chance, it doesn’t happen all the time but I always try to push for that as I would like to take my time with each shot and get the shot approved by the client on a big screen.

Do you feel that you're happy with the work you produce or do you suffer from 'Imposter Syndrome'? This is something I've been discussing with others recently....

I think that’s very common to anyone working in the creative field. For me I feel it’s going up and down. Sometimes I feel that I have taken the best photo someone can get then a few days later I realize that this photo should be deleted forever…..lol

I know what you mean. You have to acknowledge that every shoot you do you are learning something new. The work you produced yesterday won’t be as good as today. As long as your learning and pushing yourself to achieve the best you can, this is part of the journey for me.

As my own personal work progresses, I look around at others work and see so much incredible work! Do you have any advice for keeping motivated and pushing yourself forward?

I totally agree with what you have said. A good motivation for me comes from seeing others work, especially the ones who achieved great success and have incredible body of work.

I also believe in setting out clear goals with specific timeline, that will always give some motivation in achieving the goals you have set.

That is some good advice to set yourself goals and a specific timeline. I’m quite a laid back person and let things happen organically but definitely need a kick up the backside sometimes!

Where do you draw your inspiration from and how do you go about creating your stylised look?

I think the different background I had helped me and still helping me in drawing my inspiration. I studied Architecture and worked in the architectural field for some time. I also worked in multiple fields of photography and videography, and I think those two experiences has added some value to my work.

Of course I get tons of inspiration from other architectural photographers but being exposed to other type of artists could give another perspective to how you approach your work.

Same goes with the architectural field. Sometimes I just forget the photography aspects of the project and focus on the architectural aspects and try to think about it from the perspective of the architect.

Sometimes it’s great to break away from the interior and architectural photography for a few days and focus on another subject matter. I’m trying to push myself to look at subjects in a different light and angles. Creating a new visual style and look can take years to build up a body of work…..I’m still working on it but can sometimes get convoluted as I draw inspiration for so many other photographers.

Do you have a favourite thing you like to shoot and why?

I usually look at buildings as an architect first rather than a photographer or filmmaker. Anything I explore first then becomes a subject I want to shoot.

To be more specific, I would say for sure I admire minimalist, white and simple architecture although it’s not very common here in our region.

A man after my own heart. Clean lines and clutter free all the way for me…

What would say the highlight of your career would be to this point?

I would say some of the awards I’ve received.

My first major one was for the largest photography award in Saudi Arabia for a photo I took for Burj Khalifa. Although it happened almost 10 years ago, I still consider it something I am proud of.

I got a royal invitation to attend the ceremony and received my award from Prince of Mecca Khalid Al Faisal. I have been honored to win some other competitions where I met Prince of Dubai & Prince of Bahrain. Those awards were for fine art photography and not exactly about architecture.

Another milestone I am proud of happened few weeks ago where I got to work with Foster + Partners. I’ve always wanted to work with for their recently completed House of Wisdom project in Sharjah.

Now I’ve never met a Prince, but to meet three that takes some doing. Huge congratulations on your awards and recent commission with Foster + Partners. We’ll all keep an eye out for your work on that project in the future.

Do you have any favourite photographers that inspire you and anyone you think we should be keeping an eye out for?

There are so many that inspire me but to be specific I admire the work of Darren Bradley and Fernando Guerra.

When it comes to video work I would say Jeff Durkin and Juan Benavides which in specific I got a lot of inspiration and influence from his work.

I will get onto looking them up straight away!

Lastly, what has been your favourite takeaway in all the lockdowns?

Despite the terrible economy we had, I believe it was a great opportunity to spend quality time with family.

I hear that!

A huge thanks to the very talented and successful Shoayb for giving up his time this week for his insightful takeovers and interview. It was great fun to see more of his work and behind the scenes access.

To see more of Shoayb’s work clink the following links - Website - Instagram