"When the light is right and the subject is interesting, I get very inspired,” says photographer Henry Dallal. Photo courtesy of Henry Dallal
Henry Dallal (BSBA ’77) offers advice that is clear and simple: “Travel and appreciate a more global culture. The world is big. Experience it in all its shapes and forms.”
It’s advice he has clearly followed himself, and he’s done so with a keen eye. Along his path around the globe he’s left a trail of striking images as a professional photographer.
Dallal, who lives in London, travels the globe to seek adventure and sample cultures as he practices his art. He says his challenge is to create “photographic art from what I see and experience. When the light is right and the subject is interesting, I get very inspired.”
And he’s had plenty of interesting subjects. Dallal has photographed the Queen of England, whom he says was charming and easy to work with. Other photographic subjects include Empress Farah Pahlavi of Iran, Princess Haya Bint Al Hussein and Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, the prime minister of UAE and ruler of Dubai.
Leaders from Oman and Bahrain have commissioned him to produce books of photography.
But he says he’s most proud of self-publishing his book Pageantry and Performance on Britain’s Household Cavalry. He’s also working on a second book, Horse Warriors, on India’s 61st Calvary—the world’s last horse regiment. From June to October, Dallal will have an exhibition at the International Museum of the Horse in Kentucky.
Despite the digital revolution, he continues to shoot with film.
“It’s more satisfying when you get that great shot,” he says.
Dallal never studied photography formally; he taught himself with the camera his father gave him at age 9 during an outing in the mountains of Iran, where he grew up.
But it wasn’t until the 1980s, when he was in 30s, that Dallal started selling his photographs.
Although Dallal’s seen much of the world, he says one of the most beautiful places on Earth is the high desert of Utah: “I love it. It’s inspiring for rock climbing, photography and the nature.”
And he admits he loved Colorado: “I do miss it, but there were many more playgrounds in the world to explore.”