A Diwali night in Dubai
A Diwali celebration for family and friends. Evening event coverage, shot mostly in black and white to match the candlelit mood.
Some shoots ask for colour. Some ask for the opposite.
Diwali is the festival of lights — and my first instinct is always to chase the lamps, the rangoli, the golden sarees. But when I arrived and looked around, the light on this night wasn't loud. It was soft, low, and scattered. The kind of light that asks to be photographed in black and white.
So that's what I did. I shot most of the evening in B&W, watching for moments instead of setups. A conversation between two women that lasted ten seconds. A chef working a buffet corner in almost complete darkness. A guest mid-laugh with a glass in her hand. Candles, yes — but also hands, jewellery, the way fabric moved when someone turned.
Colour came in for the portraits and group shots — those needed it. Everything else stayed monochrome.
The result is a quiet, cinematic record of the evening. Not a highlight reel of decorations, but a memory of who was actually there.
