One day your children will be grown & they will ask you what life was like when they were little. It’s my job to help you show them.
Not just about the milestones. Not the birthdays or the holidays you spent months planning. They'll want to hear about the ordinary days, the messy, beautiful, everyday moments. The laughter around the kitchen table. The chaos of family life. The cuddles on the sofa. The quiet moments in between. That is what I want to preserve for you and the ones you love.
Honest, natural family photography for parents who want to remember not just how life looked, but how it felt. Because one day, these photographs will become part of your family's story, and your children will be grateful to see that you were in it too.
Documentary Family Photographer in Dubai
“Photographs that feel like your family. Completely relaxed. Fully present. Deeply in love with one another.”
I'm Natalie, a Dubai-based family photographer. Mum to two little girls, and endlessly drawn to the beauty of real life
As a hopeless romantic, a nostalgic at heart, and someone who has spent more than 16 years documenting people's stories, I know just how quickly these years pass by. The cuddles on the sofa. The laughter over absolutely nothing. The way your toddler still reaches for your hand without thinking. The little routines and quirks that feel so ordinary now, but one day will mean everything.
Based in Dubai, and spending my summers in London and Beirut, I work with families who know these years aren't simply something to get through. They are a chapter worth holding onto. A season that deserves to be remembered exactly as it was.
If you're here, I'm guessing you're not looking for a stiff, overly posed studio session where everyone is asked to sit still and smile at the camera. You want something that feels real. The beautiful chaos. The belly laughs. The muddy feet. The cuddles, the connection, and the moments in between.
I do not believe in forcing moments. Children do not need to be directed into being themselves; they already are.
I know that kids are unpredictable, and they are supposed to be! Whether we are capturing the morning light inside your sunlit Dubai villa or spending an afternoon running along the beach, there is no choreography here.
So I simply follow their lead. I watch, I wait, and I gently guide when needed, always allowing space for real moments to unfold naturally. The cuddles. The laughter. The little glances in between. They say everything without words.
And if you are someone who usually feels a bit uncomfortable in front of the camera, please know, you are not the only one. Many of the families I work with feel exactly the same at first. My role is to make you feel easy. Like I am just there, quietly observing your family life as it already is.
Most of my work is here in Dubai, but I am in London and Beirut in the summer.
I spend most of the year photographing families here in Dubai, before returning to London and Beirut during the summer months. While I love working in both places, there is something especially meaningful about documenting families in the comfort of their own homes.
Life in Dubai moves quickly. School runs, work commitments, travel, activities, social plans, there is always something happening and somewhere to be. Yet I have found that when we intentionally slow things down, even for an hour, the most beautiful moments begin to unfold.
Perhaps it's those quiet early days with a newborn, curled up together in a sunlit nursery. Or an energetic morning spent chasing little ones through the garden, laughter echoing through the house. Whatever this season looks like for your family, my role is simply to capture it as it is.
These sessions are relaxed, intimate, and entirely centred around you. There is no pressure to perform, no rushing from one pose to the next, and no need to pack bags or load the car.
I come to you with a calm, friendly, and completely unhurried presence, so you can focus on what matters most: being together.
Your life is not curated. It is lived.
Let's photograph it that way.
No pressure. No stiff posing. Just your family.
I always strive to create a calm, relaxed and natural experience for all the families I work with.
Most of my sessions take place in your own home, because that is where real life happens and that is where the story belongs. The unmade bed. The breakfast is still on the table. These details matter more than any backdrop ever could.
I also love photographing families outdoors, in that soft early morning or golden evening light that Dubai does so beautifully, gardens, beaches, the quiet spaces where children naturally relax into themselves. Nothing overly staged. Nothing overly styled. Just soft light, real connection and the kind of atmosphere where your family can simply exist together.
“Because that is where the magic already is”
The London and Beirut Summer Diary sessions are all about that iconic, relaxed holiday energy. Think long walks through overgrown green parks, quiet mornings in historic flats, and the beautiful, casual nostalgia of a family summer away from home. Space for these seasonal sessions is incredibly limited, bridging your two worlds seamlessly so your family archive covers every single chapter of your life.
As a Dubai family, our lives are beautifully split across borders. When the desert heat rolls in and the suitcases are packed, my camera travels with me.
I’m not here to create perfect images. I’m here to preserve the real ones.
These are the photographs your children will reach for one day, to feel close to this time again. To you, exactly as you are right now.
These are the photographs you will reach for when you are older. And you'll be so glad you're in them, too.
You have built a beautiful and full life. You travel, you celebrate, you are always present for every milestone that matters. But somewhere in the middle of all of it, you have realised that the version of your family right now, exactly as it is, in this season, with these particular ages and these particular little voices, is something you don't actually have photographed. Not really. Not honestly.
You do not want another stiff and styled family portrait that sits in a frame and says nothing true. You want something that captures the texture of your life.
The beautiful feelings of joy. The real laughter. The version of your family your children will recognise instantly, decades from now and feel the same way when they see it.
You are living through a season that will not last forever.
Even the hardest and most chaotic days will one day be the ones you miss the most. It is happening right now, and then it will be gone, and you will spend years trying to remember exactly how it felt. Let's make sure you don't have to rely on memory alone.
I would be honoured to help you remember it.
The Highlight Reel
@kamashtaphotos
