DUBAI: Veteran photographer Ramesh Shukla has been in the UAE for the best part of five decades. He arrived from his native India just as the former Trucial states were approaching independence from Britain and embarking on a remarkable journey of nation building.
Now 84 years old, he first saw the development of the UAE into a global business hub of isolated desert sheikhs and fishing villages, synonymous with entrepreneurial dynamism, cosmopolitan cities and incredible skyline.
It is a transformation whose story he has diligently recorded with his camera over the decades.
Sheikh Zayed signed his name on a photo for a young Shukla. (Photo courtesy of Ramesh Shukla)
His attachment to the country began by accident in 1965 after an uncomfortable boat trip from Mumbai. At the time, Shukla was working for the Times of India newspaper, but the lure of exploration proved too good to resist.
Packing up his most cherished possessions, a Rolicord camera, and as many rolls of film as he could carry, the young man, then in his twenties, embarked on a life-changing adventure.
“This is my camera,” Shukla told Arab News at the Etihad Museum in Dubai more than half a century later, carefully craning his now-old Rolicord.
“When I was 15, my father asked me: ‘What birthday present do you want?’ And I said: ‘Dad, please give me a camera.'”
Old Dhow Ghat at Deira in Dubai. (Photo by Ramesh Shukla)
Despite his desire to see the world, Shukla, it happened, was not fit for sea voyage. Shortly after his ship, Dwarka, departed from Mumbai, he felt terribly seasick.
Desperate to escape the relentless swaying of the waves, he landed in Sharjah, one of the Trucial Kingdoms, then collectively an unofficial protectorate of the British Empire.
Here he found a place to stay with a local man, who urged the young visitor to go to the Sharjah Camel Racetrack, where a big event was taking place at the time. Eager to witness the authentic sights and sounds of Arabia, Shukla duly accompanied by a camera in hand.
There, sitting on the ground along the racetrack, he saw a group of men who would search for the United Arab Emirates. Among them was Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al-Nahyan, who soon became the new country’s first president, a position he held until his death on November 2, 2004.
Ramesh Shukla cradles his old Rolicord camera. (AN photo/Mohammed Fawzi)
Shukla took 12 photographs of Sheikh Zayed watching the race, and returned the next day to present a portrait of himself. The ruler of Abu Dhabi, now commonly known as the “Father of the Nation”, was so impressed that he signed the print and gifted his pen to Shukla.
“That’s when the first connection happened,” Shukla’s son, Neil, an art director, told Arab News. “He met His Majesty for the first time. From that time on, Sheikh Zayed said: ‘Don’t leave this area. Stay.'”
Determined to stay, Shukla brings his wife and their son to live with him during his formative years in his adopted country.
“I was with him all the time,” Neil said. “Before taking a picture, he would take a picture of me to make sure the lighting was accurate and then he would take the shot.”
Clock tower in Deira, Dubai. (Photo by Ramesh Shukla)
Completely self-taught, Shukla developed a distinctive style of photography, capturing scenes of everyday life on black-and-white film, highlighting the simplicity of nomadic life in the country before the unification and oil boom.
Recurring themes of his early work included hardworking Bedouins, herds of camels, traditional abra boats on Dubai Creek, and the Clock Tower of Deira photographed from above. He also documented the early days of Dubai’s first commercial airport and the city’s first museum.
“This was life in the UAE; there was nothing. There was neither light nor water in my house. Even the water he needed to develop his photographs had to be taken from a nearby well.
Although his lifestyle was modest, Shukla built a strong rapport with the leaders of the United Arab Emirates, earning the unofficial title of “royal photographer”. His prized access to the royal courts meant that his photographs were in high demand, especially by the Indian news media.
Ramesh Shukla with his iconic image of the founding father of the UAE. (AN photo/Mohammed Fawzi)
Much of Shukla’s collection has been preserved for posterity thanks to his wife, Tarulatta, who carefully stored her husband’s negativities, protecting them from moisture and dust, in her modest home in Deira, which had a dark room. , consisted of a kitchen and a bedroom. , The collection presents a compelling account of the UAE’s 50-year journey as a nation.
“He kept on documenting history,” Neil said. “We are very careful about the collection. We don’t commercialize it – it’s history. That is why they are loved more than anything else, because they keep history sacred and close to them.”
A royal falcon keeper. (Photo by Ramesh Shukla)
Shukla’s business card features a miniature print of a photograph of which he is particularly proud. On December 2, 1971, he took part in the historic ceremony during which the rulers of Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Sharjah, Ajman, Fujairah and Umm al-Quwain came together for their independence from Britain and the establishment of their own unified country. Ras al-Khaimah will join the union next month.
It was here that Shukla captured the film which would become an iconic image of the sheikhs standing under the national flag of their new country. The flagpole still stands today in the Jumeirah district of Dubai.
“It was a great pleasure,” said Shukla, recalling the day half a century ago, he was photographed under the same flag. “With one family, the UAE began.”
Union House, where the agreement creating the United Arab Emirates was signed, is nearby. Of course, Shukla was there to capture the historic moment when Sheikh Zayed added his signature to the document. His picture of the assembled sheikhs became the “Spirit of the Union” logo, which was widely used five years ago on the 45th UAE National Day.
Many photographs of Shukla are displayed at the stations of the Dubai Metro Line. Recently, his image of Sheikh Zayed, the signer of the union agreement, is featured in the Expo 2020 Dubai Passport.
Ramesh Shukla with his son art director Neel Shukla. (AN photo/Mohammed Fawzi)
In recognition of his remarkable contribution to the UAE’s national story, the photographer was one of Dubai’s creative community to receive a coveted Golden Visa, which grants holders long-term residency rights without the need for a national sponsor, and 100 percent confers ownership. their own business.
Shukla certainly led an eventful life, documenting the history of a nation from its inception, including its natural and cultural heritage, its most important and proudest moments and even its chiefs. life is also included.
Still, despite working so hard for so many years, he does not believe in retirement.
“After the age of 100, life begins,” he said.
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