How One Dubai-Based Photographer Is Championing Body Positivity In His New Book

Off the back of his hugely successful Rock Your Ugly photography series, Waleed Shah is now giving you a chance to own his prints, as he continues to act as an advocate for body positivity both on and offline…

It’s been over three years since photographer Waleed Shah posted a topless picture of himself on Instagram. It was his 31st birthday and he expressed his unhappiness with his shape.

The black and white photograph sees him leaning forward and grabbing his middle – alongside a post detailing how much his body had changed from his former bodybuilding days due to serious injury and starting a new business, but Waleed very frankly added: “We’ve all the seen the motivational videos of someone severely injured climbing mountains and setting world records. We’ve all read the articles about the most successful people in the world taking care of their bodies first. So really, there’s no one to blame but me.”

What followed was a deluge of messages of support, both on the post and in private, with many people expressing issues with their own bodies, many others with declarations of loving their scars and ‘flaws’… and so started the Rock Your Ugly project to celebrate body positivity. Over the next two years, Waleed took photographs of many of these people and logged their stories, scars, fears, affirmations and mental-health struggles across his social media and in an exhibition last March in Al Quoz.

Now the images and stories are available in book form, in a continued effort to celebrate the diversity of body shapes and sizes, and to challenge conventional beauty ideals. Rock Your Ugly is out now, priced Dhs150 and published by The Dreamwork Collective.

For more information visit waleedshah.ae

From Harper’s Bazaar Arabia’s May 2021 issue. Photography by Waleed Shah.