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Returning in Triumph - part 2 of 1 2

Published 01/04/2012

While he was enjoying life it was obvious to Ian that he could only pick up so much at Pixifoto and again he started to look around to move his career on. Jobs were few and far between, even when he looked at moving down to England, but then suddenly he noticed a vacancy being advertised in Dubai. "With two days' preparation I got my stuff together and went for an interview," he says. "Incredibly I got it and within a few weeks I was off to Dubai: I was so unprepared that I had to look at a map to find out where it was!"

It turned out to be an amazing opportunity for someone like Ian who was prepared to immerse themselves in a new way of life and to make the most of being in a city that was unlike anywhere else he had ever experienced. "Dubai is very multicultural," he says. "I get to meet people from all parts of the world and I love learning about other people's cultures and I really enjoy the food! The weather was unlike anything I had ever experienced in my life: when I first got off the plane it was about 45º and the heat hit me like I was walking into a brick wall. The winter, however,, is great, and it's warm and sunny and nowhere near as scorching hot as the summer is.

"The opportunities in Dubai are something I could never have experienced back in rural Scotland. Not only was I working at the newly launched Pink Pepper commercial studio, which is based in the Dubai Mall, the world's biggest shopping centre, I also had the opportunity to take pictures from the top of the world's biggest building, the Burj Khalifa, (before it was opened to the public!). I sat front row at a press conference with Usher and I was sent to Bangladesh to take pictures for a charity that was working in the slums of Dhaka. This latter job was probably one of the greatest things I have ever done in my life."

Not surprisingly Ian is in no hurry to consider a move back to the UK, but he's kept in touch through his membership of The Societies and has taken the opportunity to enter the monthly competitions whenever he can. He often enters images he's taken in the course of his work, and the striking portrait that won him the Overall Photographer of the Year Award is of a client who came in for a shoot.

"As soon as I looked at him I knew there was something different about him that had to be captured," says Ian. "His skin was well taken care of and finely detailed and textured. Nearing the end of the studio session I asked him if I could try something a little different, and I asked him to hold two small strip lights that I have had for a while now: shooting with such simple lights is quite tough to do, especially with such a low wattage, but when I looked at the images in the back of the camera I knew I had something special."

Happy as he was with the image, Ian had no idea quite how special that shot would turn out to be, as could be evidenced by his reaction on the Awards Night when his name was called out. "It was just an unbelievable shock," he says. "When I got the two category awards I was over the moon - job done! Wining the Overall Photographer of the Year award simply hit me for six. I never even considered I would be in the running for this: I can't remember the words that came out of my mouth when I went up to collect the award but my mum says they were excusable for that one time - I was in shock!"

Despite the distance Ian will definitely be heading back over to London for the 2013 Convention and it's an event that he wouldn't miss for the world. "I'm sure it will be great as always," he says, "but I don't think that anything will ever top the 2012 Convention!"

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1st Published 01/04/2012
last update 09/12/2022 14:58:34

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