Source:
https://scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/arts-music/article/3154850/beautiful-desert-photos-hong-kong-exhibition
Post Magazine/ Arts & Music

Empty Quarter desert’s ‘1,000 shades of red’ captured in Hong Kong exhibition showing photos of world’s largest sand mass

  • Photographer Palani Mohan’s exhibition at The Peninsula Hong Kong hotel captures vibrant colours and signs of life in Arabian Peninsula’s Empty Quarter desert
  • Mohan’s fascination with nature and its power inform a section of the exhibition featuring photos taken during his time in Hong Kong
“Red Sands of the Empty Quarter, The Empty Quarter, UAE, 2021” by Palani Mohan, one of his photos on show at the f22 foto space in Hong Kong’s Peninsula hotel. Photo: Palani Mohan

In the southern expanse of the Arabian Peninsula lies the Rub’ al Khali desert, the world’s largest sand mass, covering parts of Saudi Arabia, Yemen, Oman and the United Arab Emirates.

In English, it is known as the Empty Quarter. But to photographer Palani Mohan, the vast desert – “it’s bigger than France” – is everything but empty.

During his two years based in Dubai, the Indian-born, Australian-raised photographer made regular trips to the desert on the Saudi Arabia-UAE border. Now his images from those visits are on show at “Sand Trails and Storm Clouds”, an exhibition at the f22 foto space in The Peninsula hotel, in Tsim Sha Tsui.

“I’d wake up after midnight and travel eight hours at 140km an hour just to catch the morning light,” Mohan says of his desert excursions. “You don’t want to be outside any later – it’s 45 degrees [Celsius; 113 degrees Fahrenheit] by 8am.”

Not only did Mohan capture vibrant colours – “the desert has 1,000 shades of red” – he also found life and inspiration in a place that many see only as dead and inhospitable.

“It’s hot and dry and I’d be the only sign of life among these massive reddish-orange sand dunes,” he says.

Mohan in the Rub’ al Khali desert. Photo: Courtesy of Palani Mohan
Mohan in the Rub’ al Khali desert. Photo: Courtesy of Palani Mohan

In some parts of the desert, which stretches 1,000km by 500km (620 miles by 310 miles), the dunes reach heights of 300 metres (980 feet). And while he did spot the occasional bird, wild camel, scorpion and sand gecko, what captivated Mohan most were the abstract footprints the desert animals and insects left behind.

“These creatures came out at night to hunt and left these incredibly beautiful works of art in the sand that only lasted a few hours, and were not seen by anyone before being erased by the north winds, only to appear again the next morning in a new form,” he says.

“One pattern that caught my eye was where a mouse and snake had crossed the same path – it was mesmerising. I was convinced another pattern was a creature with claws but the marks were in fact made by a dead bush blowing in the wind.”

“Snake and the Mouse, The Empty Quarter, UAE, 2021” by Palani Mohan. Photo: Palani Mohan
“Snake and the Mouse, The Empty Quarter, UAE, 2021” by Palani Mohan. Photo: Palani Mohan
“Morning Shadow, The Empty Quarter, UAE, 2021” by Palani Mohan. Photo: Palani Mohan
“Morning Shadow, The Empty Quarter, UAE, 2021” by Palani Mohan. Photo: Palani Mohan
“Yellow Flowers over Red Dunes, The Empty Quarter, UAE, 2021” by Palani Mohan. Photo: Palani Mohan
“Yellow Flowers over Red Dunes, The Empty Quarter, UAE, 2021” by Palani Mohan. Photo: Palani Mohan
“Camel Spiders on Red Dunes, The Empty Quarter, UAE, 2021” by Palani Mohan. Photo: Palani Mohan
“Camel Spiders on Red Dunes, The Empty Quarter, UAE, 2021” by Palani Mohan. Photo: Palani Mohan
“Lost Village, The United Arab Emirates, 2020” by Palani Mohan. Photo: Palani Mohan
“Lost Village, The United Arab Emirates, 2020” by Palani Mohan. Photo: Palani Mohan

Mohan’s fascination with nature and its power also informed the “Storm Clouds” section of the exhibition, which features photos taken during his time in Hong Kong, a city he has had a long love affair with.

“It’s my third time back living here,” he says of his return to Hong Kong earlier this year. “I love the city’s energy.”

The strict quarantine regu­lations that have grounded him, however, are taking a toll. “I’ve had to cancel overseas jobs, which is frustrating, but I’ve enjoyed having the extra time to photograph the city,” he says.

“Clouds over Hong Kong, Hong Kong, 2016” by Palani Mohan. Photo: Palani Mohan
“Clouds over Hong Kong, Hong Kong, 2016” by Palani Mohan. Photo: Palani Mohan
“Waiting for the Black Rain, Shing Sai Road, Hong Kong, 2018” by Palani Mohan. Photo: Palani Mohan
“Waiting for the Black Rain, Shing Sai Road, Hong Kong, 2018” by Palani Mohan. Photo: Palani Mohan
“Egret in the Fragrant Harbour, Aberdeen, Hong Kong, 2019” by Palani Mohan. Photo: Palani Mohan
“Egret in the Fragrant Harbour, Aberdeen, Hong Kong, 2019” by Palani Mohan. Photo: Palani Mohan
“Waltz of the Clouds, Big Wave Bay, Hong Kong, 2021” by Palani Mohan. Photo: Palani Mohan
“Waltz of the Clouds, Big Wave Bay, Hong Kong, 2021” by Palani Mohan. Photo: Palani Mohan
“Circular Horizons, Victoria Harbour, Hong Kong, 2021” by Palani Mohan. Photo: Palani Mohan
“Circular Horizons, Victoria Harbour, Hong Kong, 2021” by Palani Mohan. Photo: Palani Mohan

Before the pandemic cancelled his travel plans, remote and harsh environments were a magnet for Mohan, whose projects have taken him to the frozen lakes of Mongolia to photograph the last Kazakh eagle hunters and around Asia to capture the region’s disappearing elephants.

“Sand Trails and Storm Clouds” is showing at the f22 foto space, The Peninsula, Tsim Sha Tsui, tel: 6511 2218.