Planning a Duty Free Shoot at Istanbul Airport, From Brief to Shoot Day
Brands that photograph a duty free store at Istanbul Airport usually discover the same thing in the first email. The difficult part is not the photography. It is getting a crew and a case of equipment airside, through two security screenings and a customs check, on the day and at the hour the store is ready. This guide is written for the brand, travel retail or agency team on the other side of that email. It explains what happens between the brief and the shoot, what we take care of, and what we need from you and when.
Aviation uses the airport's code, IST. In travel retail it is widely known as INA, Istanbul New Airport. Both names refer to the same terminal, and its duty free is operated by Unifree.
Start with who holds the access
Nobody walks into an airside store with a camera and a shot list. Photography at Istanbul Airport is authorised by iGA, the airport operator, and the first question for any brand is whether the photographer already sits inside that system or has to apply from outside it.
TKM Photo is an approved photographer at Istanbul Airport. We hold an annual photography licence from iGA, one of very few photographers to do so, and that licence is what gives us approved status. It does not replace the permit each shoot still needs. What it changes is who applies and how. We prepare and submit every permit application ourselves, through that status and the contacts we have built inside the airport. On the retail side we have an ongoing working relationship with Unifree, and the store teams know us. We work in Istanbul with a permanent team, so a shoot at the airport carries no travel costs.
For the brand this means no registration, no contact to find at the airport and no application to draft.
What goes into the permit file
Each shoot has its own file, and the airport reads it closely. It names every person who will be on site, with their identity documents and social security registration. It states exactly where the crew will work, down to the store and the zone, and exactly at what hours. It lists the equipment item by item, and it carries the insurance that covers the crew. The customs permit and the personal airside entry cards are issued separately on the basis of that file.
None of this is the brand's paperwork. It is ours. To start planning, we need two decisions from you, which store or counter is to be photographed and where the images will be used. Everything else is built on top of them.
Two security screenings, so the kit is chosen for them
Crew and equipment go through security twice. The first is the standard screening at the terminal entrance. The second is the staff screening that leads airside, where the shops are. Every case goes through the scanner both times, so the kit is packed to show clearly on screen and to open without fuss.
Batteries get special treatment. Every camera battery, spare and flash battery is listed one by one rather than as a quantity. We choose the equipment for each shoot with this in mind.
Customs controls the exact list, in and out
The duty free area is a customs zone, and professional equipment cannot simply be carried in and carried out again. For every shoot we declare the full list, each camera body, each lens, the tripod, the spare batteries and the memory cards, and customs issues a permit for that shoot and that list. The police check it on the way in and again on the way out.
For a brand this has one practical consequence. What is on the list is what can be used. A second camera body, an extra lens or a video rig that someone decides they want on the morning of the shoot cannot be added at the door. If the brief may grow to include video, interviews or an extra counter, tell us before the file goes in, not on the day.
Shooting in a terminal that never closes
The shops at Istanbul Airport do not close for a shoot, and the passenger flow does not stop. We usually shoot during the day, inside normal trading. The store's house rules apply, and the shoot works around passengers and around the store's own work.
So the working style is compact. No stands in the walkways, compact lighting kept out of the passengers' path, wide frames timed to the quieter moments and detail work while the floor is busy. Store staff keep serving throughout. When advisors, makeup artists or customers appear in frame, image releases are agreed with the brand beforehand.
Most brands book the shoot shortly after a new installation opens, once the counter is fully stocked and the team has settled in. Opening events can be covered as well, with their own permit. Our general approach to a store that keeps trading is described in retail photography with the store still open. At the airport the same principles apply, under tighter control.
The brief comes from the brand
The creative brief comes from the brand, not from the retailer. The store's house rules apply on every shoot and we follow them. What the pictures must achieve is the brand's call. A brief that lets us prepare properly covers the following.
- the store, counter or gondola to be photographed, and the zone of the terminal it sits in
- the shot list, with the frames that matter most marked first
- the brand's visual guidelines and the planogram or merchandising plan for that installation
- which products must appear and which cannot be shown yet
- whether people will be in frame, such as advisors, makeup artists or models, and who arranges their releases
- where the images will be used, for example media, social channels or internal reporting, since this is also stated in the permit request
- the delivery date you need
When to send what
The calendar is driven by the permit file, so the order in which things reach us matters.
- As soon as a date is likely, tell us the date, the store and the intended use of the images. That is enough for us to start planning the file.
- Confirm the date and send the brief early enough for the application to go in at least fifteen days before the shoot. The airport tariff published by DHMİ, Turkey's state airports authority, sets fifteen days as the minimum notice for a written shoot application. The application goes to the airport and to the local civil administration, and it states the start and end time of the shoot and the total number of people on the crew.
- Before the file goes in, confirm anything that changes the crew or the kit, such as video or an extra location.
- On the day, name a contact at the brand who can approve a frame on the spot if the installation looks different from the plan.
Turkish public holidays move this calendar, because customs and entry cards follow official working days. We check them when the date is set, and if a holiday falls inside the window we tell you before you fix the date.
One photographer beyond Istanbul
Many travel retail programmes run across several airports. We photograph duty free for the Estée Lauder Companies brands, Dolce & Gabbana and Clarins. Our airport work covers Istanbul and Antalya and airports in Spain and across Europe, including Madrid, Lisbon, Copenhagen, Sofia, Alicante, Malaga and Palma. Each airport has its own access process, while the brand keeps one photographer and one standard. The airport duty free case study shows the work and the brands behind it.
If you are planning a shoot at Istanbul Airport, send us the store, the date you have in mind and where the images will be used. We will tell you what the file needs and when.