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Ramesh Shukla: Expat who came to UAE with Rs50 and photographed its rise over 60 years
Amid the breathtaking transformation he witnessed, Shukla often spoke of his pride in preserving the essence of Emirati culture and tradition
- PUBLISHED: Sun 15 Feb 2026, 7:43 PM
In 1965, a 22-year-old arrived in the UAE with Rs50 in his pocket and a Rolleicord camera gifted by his father. There were no highways or towers; just endless desert sands.
That young man was Ramesh Shukla.
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“My ship, Dwaraka, docked in Sharjah, where I was greeted by … a vast, unfamiliar land. Little did I know that moment would mark the beginning of my lifelong mission: to tell the story of the Emirates through my photography,” the UAE’s ‘royal photographer’, Ramesh Shukla, said on his website.
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Six decades and thousands of photos later, Shukla passed away after having chronicled the UAE’s stunning transformation through his images.
On his website, he described how few people owned cameras in the 1960s, and how that rarity gave him the privilege of “capturing the traditions, heritage, and everyday moments of the Emirates.”
In an interview with Khaleej Times, he painted the picture even more vividly: cycling between Dubai and Sharjah with “50 or 60 black and white rolls of film” in his pocket, at a time when there was “no water, no electricity. Nothing.”
In 1968, he caught royal attention when he captured the late Sheikh Zayed’s joyful spirit during a camel race. “When I presented him with the photo, he smiled, signed it, and said, ‘Ramesh, you are Fannan’ — an artist. From that day, I became the trusted photographer for the country’s most historic events.”
In a separate Khaleej Times interview, he shared how Sheikh Zayed not only signed the photograph but handed him a gold pen and told him to keep taking photos.
Capturing the birth of a country
On December 2, 1971, at Union House, as the rulers of the emirates signed the agreement that would form the United Arab Emirates, Shukla stood ready.
“They all came and I just told them to stop — click, click, click,” he told Khaleej Times years later, crediting the image’s success to being “at the right place, at the right time.”
That frame of the rulers gathered together after signing would later be known as The Spirit of the Union. On his website, Shukla described it as one of his proudest achievements, noting that the photograph is displayed across the country and featured on the Dh50 banknote.
For Shukla, it was never about money. “I love history. I don’t love money. I don’t care about money, but I am very happy to cover history.”
How Dubai Ruler saved his life
Shukla’s closeness to the country’s leadership was legendary.
In one interview with Khaleej Times, Shukla recalled nearly being trampled at a horse race after becoming too engrossed in capturing a shot. It was the Dubai Ruler, Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, who pulled him to safety.
“Are you trying to get yourself killed?” the ruler asked him, he recounted.
In the same feature, Shukla shared other moments of care: from Sheikh Mohammed overseeing his recovery after an injury to personally administering medicine during a hunting trip.
The smile of a queen
In 1979, when Queen Elizabeth II visited the UAE, Shukla was determined to capture a solo portrait.
“She was busy … and did not heed me at first,” he told Khaleej Times. “But I kept saying please and suddenly she turned around and gave me the sweetest smile.”
He photographed the proceedings as she inaugurated the Dubai Municipality building and later captured an image of the Queen alongside Sheikh Zayed.
In the same interview, his son Neel recalled standing just metres away as a child, holding his own small camera and photographing the moment too.
Memory lives on
Amid the breathtaking transformation he witnessed, Shukla often spoke of his pride in preserving the essence of Emirati culture and tradition. His photographs now hang in the Etihad Museum, Al Shindagha Museum, and along the walls of Dubai Metro stations, embedded in the nation’s collective memory.
Yet for a man who believed history was always unfolding, the story was never complete. He spoke of undeveloped rolls of film, each one holding fragments of the UAE’s journey still waiting to be revealed.
And perhaps that is how he would have wanted it: the shutter never fully closed, with a camera waiting to tell more stories.
As Associate Editor, Sahim Salim helps tell the UAE story like no one else does — and leads a team of reporters that asks the questions to get news and headlines that matter.