50 Years Of UAE Through The Lens Of Ramesh Shukla

Royal Photographer, Artist, Founder – Four Seasons Ramesh Gallery, Dubai.

Ramesh Shukla, an ace photographer working with the Times Group in Mumbai left for UAE in 1959 with only Rs.50/- in his pocket, seven rolls of film and a Rolleicord camera given to him by his father. He was in his 20’s at that time. What started in a tiny home in Al Nasr Square where life revolved around raw, earthy images of Dubai street life led to more refined, commissioned portraits of well-known UAE families and being a favourite Royal photographer.

A three-day camel race in Sharjah in 1968 was a turning point for him. Hoping on to his bicycle, he went to race track and was amazed to see Shaikh Zayed Bin Sultan Al Nahyan, who later became President of the UAE, and Shaikh Rashid Bin Saeed Al Maktoum, who later became Vice President of UAE and Ruler of Dubai, watching the races. Ramesh quickly began photographing them from different angles. He then developed the film and presented the photographs to the Shaikh, the following day. “Shaikh Zayed’s words of encouragement and his gesture gave me the impetus to continue recording the history of a country that was in the making,” he says. His images depict themes of everyday life in the emirates from official life of the sheikh’s family, landscapes and portraits to the development of modern infrastructure in the fast expanding cities. His photographs of the Rulers of the UAE adorn palaces and private collections, and his work appears on UAE postage stamps, currency notes, in the Municipality and Union house in Dubai and is reproduced in Dubai metro stations.

Ramesh has won many awards for his exceptional photographic work, including his most prestigious award, a gold plate trophy, presented to him by the late H.H. Sheikh Zayed Bin Sultan Al Nahyan (late King of Abu Dhabi).