Shamela Hanley

International Author

About

My name is Shamela Hanley, I am Irish and 22 years old, born and raised into the racing scene in Dubai where my dad was a jockey and my mom was an assistant trainer, so I grew up around race horses and had a natural love for them. 

I’ve been taking pictures at the races since I was 13 years old and soon became official photographer at Al Ain Racecourse and the United Arab Emirates based photographer for Shadwell. Racing photography has taken me all over the world from the US to Europe and the Middle East and I’m so thankful I get to experience this beautiful sport internationally. 

My main love for racing is working directly with the horses, I’ve been riding ever since I can remember, including moving to Ireland to ride out for Noel Meade for 2 years before coming back to Dubai to be work rider and racing secretary at Zabeel Stables for Satish Seemar 

For my next adventure I would love to go take pictures of the Melbourne Cup in Australia, Royal Ascot in the UK and the Durban July meeting in South Africa- they are all at the top of my bucket list!