ShaukatMuhammadRafi
Photographer, collector and author. Dubai, since 1968.
200,000+ photographs · 10 titles · Erth Dubai Award, Best Dubai Resident Story
Our heritage & legacy
The museum is a private collection in Dubai holding more than 200,000 photographs, together with the permits, passports, currency, correspondence and cameras of the years that produced them — a continuous record of the United Arab Emirates from 1968 onward.
Material from the collection has been published in ten books, lent to institutions, and exhibited locally and abroad. It is shown privately, by appointment.
Books
All ten
Dubai 1960–1993
PublishedA collection of historical photographs and documents
Hamdan bin Mohammed Heritage Centre, Government of Dubai
Sharjah International Book Fair · 2026
Legacy of Abu Dhabi
UnpublishedA collection of rare historical photographs
Al Ain — Echoes of the Oasis
UnpublishedA visual journey through heritage, architecture and nature
Memory · Culture · Heritage
Desert Echoes
UnpublishedLife and legacy of old UAE
2024
Echoes of Tradition
UnpublishedUAE's cultural masterpieces
2024
The founder ·
Photographer, independent archivist, preserver of a nation’s memory
A childhood passion for photography in the late 1960s became a lifelong mission: capturing and safeguarding the fading memories of the Emirates, from a modest coastal settlement to a modern global city.
Winner of Best Dubai Resident Story at the Erth Dubai Awards, honoured by His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum at the Museum of the Future, and recognised by the Hamdan bin Mohammed Heritage Centre in July 2025.
Areas of cooperation
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The museum is a private collection in Dubai, shown by appointment to researchers, journalists, students and institutions.