Photography in Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque, Abu Dhabi
Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque is located in Abu Dhabi and is the largest mosque in the country. It is a key place for worship as well as tourism. During Eid, it can be visited by more than 41000 people. The mosque was constructed between 1996 and 2007 with the main axis of the building rotated 11 degrees south of true west in order to align with the direction of Mecca.
To get to the mosque you need to take a taxi. Thankfully taxis are cheap and I used Ubr for the convenience. Once you arrive, you enter the reception which is quite far away from the mosque itself. You then go through security and have a long walk underground. Eventually you will get to the mosque and go up the escalators to the front of the structure. On the way to the mosque, there are many shops there… perfect for gifts but more importantly ideal if you forgot the correct clothing and need to buy some. Finally this is where you will be slightly disappointed to see all your western fast food brands. It definitely took the magic off the visit.
Next is clothing. They are very strict. Given it is such an important religious location though, it is not a surprise. Men have it the easiest, where all you need is a pair of trousers and a T-shirt. No need for long sleeve shirts or head covering. For women it is more complicated as they are required to cover their head and basically whole body down to the feet with a long dress. Security here are very quick to stop anyone who’s head scarf even slightly moved and some hair is showing.
As for time, we visited just before sunset which worked out really good in terms of side light. Initially we planned to go midday for the harsh light but glad we didn’t. We visited mid week and it was fairly quiet. Still plenty of people but it wasn’t packed. However judging by all the railings, it seems they experience much busier days on weekends.
As for photography I had no issues getting in with my camera equipment. I had my XT4 with the 16-55 and the trusty GoPro mounted on top of the camera in the hot shoe. Although one security guard did take a closer look, they were ok with it. Plenty of people there with big cameras so not an issue. In terms of images, I found that typically I went either wide (16-23) or telephoto (35-55). This allowed me to get the whole place in as well as zoom in on details. If I had to go again I would probably chose this set up once more. Failing that a wide prime and a tighter prime will do the job.
This is where the photography experience starts to go downhill. In and around the mosque you have designated photo stops which are essentially boxes where everyone is pushed into. You are only allowed to take photos from within that box. The moment you step outside… even 1 meter (not joking) a security guard will be running over telling you to get back in. Even if the entire area was empty and I was the only person there, the security stood next to me watching me. One foot was out of the box so I can get the right angle on a shot, and he began to get unhappy. Hopefully this will soon change as it was not here before.
So if you’re in Abu Dhabi, for sure it is worth a visit. However the whole photo thing can put a downer on the experience. My suggestion, is become very efficient with your camera and photography so you can quickly snap away while walking to and from each box… with a very high shutter speed of course.
