Instagram story viewer> @waleedshahstudio> Posts

Waleed Shah Studio

@waleedshahstudio

1.9K

followers

143

following

Photography by @waleedshah
📍 UAE
Bookings 👇

POSTS STORIES REELS TAGGED

Come shoot with me in #UAQ. The textures are beautiful out here. Come in the morning at sunrise. Or later at sunset. We hit the beach and see where we go from there.

Booking link in bio. taken in Umm al Qaiwain by @waleedshahstudio

28

8

2 months ago

I’ve often struggled with being bold, worried about what others might think. I’ve often shrunk my full self and energy either thinking it’s not yet good enough whilst awaiting perfection..or worried about intimidating others! I’ve often got lost in the noises of my head and my own mental loops➰ unable to clearly hear how the different sides of me are calling to be expressed.

And since Oct 7, 2023 the fire of creative self expression has dimmed out within me..yet this is a huge part of who I am…my existence and mental resistance. Ana Mawjoodeh🔥

✨I wanted this moment to be a catalyst that lights that fire within and let me tell you it wasn’t easy. From letting go of inhibitions and performance..to finding myself stuck in loops within loops of seeking validation and peer pressure..to dealing with self acceptance to finally getting back to the challenge of hearing my voice and what I truly want amongst the clutter..that boiled down to just listening to my heart and being in that silence.

Thank you Waleed for this beautiful journey and the reminder that not all trips give us flowers and roses and it’s those kinda trips that teach us the exact lessons we need to remember for life. And now I have powerful visuals to cement that! 🙏 taken in Alserkal Avenue by @waleedshahstudio

224

44

4 months ago

There’s a version of survival nobody talks about.

The kind where you leave your country, walk into construction sites filled with hundreds of men, where 50 degree heat is normal and quietly understand that softness will be mistaken for weakness before i even introduce yourself.

So you adapt.. (Read more in comments) taken in Alserkal Avenue by @waleedshahstudio

136

43

5 months ago

‎في زاوية هادئة من هذا العالم، عاش إنسان لم يكن يعرف إلى أين يسير.
كل يوم يمر، يشبه الذي قبله، حتى نسي كيف يشعر، وكيف يتنفس.
‎ذات مساء، جلس تحت شجرة قديمة، وسألها:
“لماذا أنا هنا؟”
‎لم تجبه الشجرة، لكنها أسقطت ورقة، سقطت أمامه بهدوء.
رفعها، فتأمل شكلها، خطوطها، مسارها من غصن إلى تراب.
‎حينها فهم.
‎ليس كل جواب يُقال،
وليس كل معنى يُمنح.
بعض المعاني تُكتشف حين تتوقف، وتنظر، وتبدأ بالبحث.
‎منذ ذلك اليوم، لم يعد يبحث عن الطريق...
بل صار هو الطريق.
‎ابحث عن معنى وجودك، لكي تجد لوجودك معنى. taken in Alserkal Avenue by @waleedshahstudio

136

18

5 months ago

This photoshoot with Waleed was unexpected. What I thought would just be pictures somehow turned into a journey I didn’t know I needed. There’s something about being in front of a lens that strips everything down, the noise, the pretending, the constant need to be strong for everyone else and for the first time in a while, I looked at myself instead of everything around me. I realized how tired I’ve been from carrying things silently. How much of myself I’ve given away trying to be there for everyone else and how little peace I’ve allowed myself to ask for. But I also saw strength. The kind that survives quietly. The kind that keeps going even when nobody notices how heavy things feel. Maybe choosing yourself isn’t selfish. Maybe asking for peace and quiet isn’t weakness. 
Maybe it’s necessary.
This too shall pass. taken in Alserkal Avenue by @waleedshahstudio

20

2

5 months ago

When journaling pain and loss becomes a book, it turns into a journey toward the healing of the soul. Its pages hold reflections between the certainty of the heart and the doubt of the mind. Its cover becomes a vision of hope in the darkest moments. Through the photographer @waleedshah ‘s lens, the soul of the book found its visual voice.

عندما يتحول تدوين الألم والفقد إلى كتاب، فإنه يصبح رحلة نحو شفاء الروح. وتحمل صفحاته تأملات بين يقين القلب وشكّ العقل. أما غلافه، فيغدو رؤيةً للأمل في أكثر اللحظات ظلمة. ومن خلال عدسة المصوّر @waleedshah وجدت روح الكتاب صوتها البصري. taken in Alserkal Avenue by @waleedshahstudio

40

8

5 months ago

Since I was a little girl, I was fascinated by the corporate look. Mostly inspired by my older sister Mayss, getting ready for work every morning leaving the house looking like she’s off to rule the world, and a collection of MSN and BBM display pictures of neatly dressed women in skirts and heels. The Devil Wears Prada kind. All carefully saved for the day “I’d be old enough to actually use them”.

Fast forward to 31, and at least a decade into the “professional” world…I still find myself drawn to it. The idea of looking neat, polished, and serious in a photo I can put out into the world.
Curious, considering I spend most of my time on God’s wide open lands of sets, far from anything resembling a corner office.

But a photo, especially one made with a lens you genuinely trust..doesn’t have to be about looking your best, or most professional, or most beautiful. Sometimes it’s about showing the real you, the fun you, the unhinged you. And sometimes, if you’re lucky, you get all of it at once.

Turns out that’s more satisfying than anything my younger self had saved on an SD card.

Result 👆🏽🥂

My name is Sally Mourad, I’m a producer, a creative and operations wizard…and I don’t need to look my best.. I just need to feel my best…to do what I do best. taken in Alserkal Avenue by @waleedshahstudio

177

51

5 months ago

Caption:

The unbecoming of becoming

Letting go of the things that I held on so tightly as part of my identity has been terrifying and liberating in equal parts. Now it’s just about stepping into a more expanded version of myself, and allowing myself to do it all imperfectly.

I think today was just about making space for that to be seen. In its current iteration. And for the art to show it rather than me say it. taken in Alserkal Avenue by @waleedshahstudio

289

79

5 months ago

Life is funny sometimes.
How it shows you things…

Today I went to my Mowjood shoot with Waleed, and I decided I want to be a mermaid.

and then Waleed said, let’s not do that. Don’t wear the tail it’s too “cliche”. It was hard to let go of the image I had in my head of how I wanted to be a mermaid…..

We breathed, I let it go, and suddenly it hit me. This is exactly what I preach to my clients who come for WaterFlow.

Trust. Surrender. Let go.

And when I did, magic happened.

Three years ago I did a Mowjood shoot with Waleed, and from it came my favourite photo of myself of all time.

I believe the same just happened again. Just not sure which photo it is yet 😉🧜‍♀️

We breathed, we laughed, and we created art. A Statue of Liberty.

And I learned to practice what I preach…. taken in Alserkal Avenue by @waleedshahstudio

84

17

5 months ago

“Before the responsibilities, before the projects, before the late nights, before the school runs, before the dogs & ducks… there was us.
Sometimes I look at the life we built together and quietly think, maybe this is the dream.“ taken in Alserkal Avenue by @waleedshahstudio

493

241

6 months ago

I walked into the studio rushed, carrying my heavy handpans and props. Put everything down, changed, and thought we’d start shooting right away. But what happened next was magic; a mix of self-exploration, creativity, and stepping out of comfort zones.

Waleed asked me to play the handpan. Before I started, I said “I’m a beginner musician”, knowing he’s a musician himself. When I finished, he said, in a serious look, “you should stop saying you’re a beginner musician.”…

After playing piano and violin in my teenage years, I paused for sometime of my life, until my body kept telling me it was time to come back to your passion. Since I first touched the handpan 4 years ago, I knew this instrument will stay with me!

The mental release, the joy, and the ability to express my emotions through its notes and vibrations, it’s what keeps me grounded through life’s chaos.

Over time I realised how powerful it is to share those feelings with others, and to put them in a state of mind they long to be in. That’s when I decided to take this further and dedicate a path of my life to sharing my music with the audience who truly value it. taken in Alserkal Avenue by @waleedshahstudio

45

9

6 months ago

Second chances are not always about being chosen again.
Sometimes they are about finding yourself again.

Because every time you compromise beyond your truth, every time a boundary is crossed and you stay silent, you can lose a little piece of yourself.

And one day you wake up feeling distant from the person you used to be.

This is for those moments.

For the second chance to return to yourself.
To choose yourself after abandoning yourself.
To reclaim the parts of you that got negotiated away.
To begin again, not as who you were before, but as someone you consciously choose.

Sometimes the most beautiful second chance…
is becoming your own. taken in Alserkal Avenue by @waleedshahstudio

94

8

6 months ago