A small studio of storytellers in Al Quoz. Seventeen years of watching people, finding the moment that matters, and pressing the button at exactly the right time. Here’s the crew that does it.
It started, as the best things often do, with disappointment. The photographers and videographers at Melon and Arish’s own wedding missed the moments that mattered. So they picked up cameras, shot friends’ weddings to learn the craft, and in 2009 took on their first paying client.
The years since have not been a straight line. Financial pressure, broken partnerships, seasons where quitting would have made perfect sense. The studio is still here anyway. Not because everything went to plan, but because the team kept showing up, kept doing the work, and kept believing there was more ahead.
Seventeen years later, with a team of twelve and a few thousand stories told, one belief still runs underneath everything: the moment matters more than the perfect shot. This story isn’t finished. And now you’re part of it.
Co-founders, The MelRish Studio
Hover a face to see what they actually do, and the fact that makes them, well, them. Tap on mobile.
The visionary. Melon directs the look of every project, sets the creative tone for the studio, and is usually the one quietly making sure your team looks human, not posed, in every frame.
Quirk Will rearrange your entire boardroom for one shot, then put everything back exactly where it was.
The one who makes it all actually happen. Arish runs operations: timelines, logistics, delivery, the moving parts that keep a seventeen-year-old studio running smoothly. If your shoot lands on time, this is why.
Quirk Can sequence a ten-stop shoot day in his head before the kettle has boiled.
Runs the production side and shoots both stills and motion. The calm at the centre of every shoot day, even when the timeline starts running away.
Quirk Always chill. The room could be on fire and he would still be checking white balance.
Quiet on set, sharp in the edit. Seth notices the frames everyone else misses, then lets the footage do the talking back at the studio.
Quirk Says ten words a day. Six of them are useful, four are jokes.
Shoots, films, and turns the finished work into the wedding and event albums clients keep on their coffee tables. Detail-obsessed in the best way.
Known for Cooking the best food in the office. Bring a Tupperware.
Works alongside Dana on albums and runs the photo edit. Picked up the craft fast and now finds the keepers in a five-thousand-image gallery in record time.
Known for Learning a new tool on Monday, mastering it by Friday.
The first voice you will probably hear from us. Eunice handles new enquiries, runs accounts and makes sure briefs land in the right hands without friction.
Quirk Joyful by default. Even at 9am, even on a Monday, even after the third round of revisions.
Lives on the social side. Reels, short-form, BTS, scroll-stoppers. Knows the difference between content that gets watched and content that gets skipped.
Quirk Easily entertained, which is exactly the energy you want from someone making content.
Cuban photographer and videographer with a steady stream of ideas the rest of the team did not see coming. Brings a different eye to every shoot.
Known for Suggesting the angle nobody else thought of, ten minutes before the shot.
Small in stature, fierce on set. Carries a camera bigger than she is and gets the shot every time. Do not underestimate her, the brief is in safe hands.
Known for Out-working anyone in the room, then asking what’s next.
The reason the studio runs on time. Malou greets clients, keeps the schedule tidy and quietly makes sure nothing gets forgotten between brief and delivery.
Known for Remembering everyone’s coffee order. Including yours, after one visit.
The reason shoots run smoothly. Johny handles equipment, sets up the kit, and assists on every shoot. The team’s quiet utility player, always one step ahead of what’s needed next.
Quirk Has two birthdays a year. Nobody is entirely sure how. He celebrates both.
Everything we make has to pass three tests. If it does, we are doing our job.
No pretending, no shortcuts, no fake perfection. We tell true stories through photos, video, books and prints. If it didn’t actually happen, we’re not interested.
Trends fade. Stories last. We don’t chase the algorithm. We make work that still means something years from now, long after the platform has moved on.
Relationships matter most. Great work happens when people feel seen, heard and valued. At MelRish, people always come before projects.
Easy to remember, easy to live by. Not the kind that sit on a wall and gather dust.
We show up on time and prepared, do the work honestly, keep our word, and take ownership instead of making excuses. We trust the process, and we do our part.
We ask questions, take feedback without flinching, and learn from mistakes rather than hiding them. Skills can be taught. Attitude is a choice. Stagnation is not an option.
Good enough is not our standard. We double-check the work, respect deadlines, underpromise and overdeliver. The small details build trust, and our name is on every frame.
We communicate early, help teammates when they’re stuck, and respect every role. No silos, no “not my job.” Nobody builds something meaningful alone.
We stay unobtrusive. We let the story unfold and act as witnesses, not directors.
We find the purpose of the story before we find the shot.
We connect with the people in it. You can’t capture a moment you haven’t earned.
We observe the place, stay present, and chase the best light in the room.
We let moments happen naturally, then we inspire the action that makes them land.
We know the work matters, and we build relationships that outlast the shoot.
After shooting friends’ weddings for the love of it, the first paying client books a shoot in India. The studio has a name and a single invoice to prove it exists.
The cameras get heavier, the briefs get bigger. Corporate work enters the mix and never quite leaves.
Quits the day job, takes the leap, signs the lease on a 700 sqft studio in Business Bay. The first real home for the work.
Arish resigns from his job and comes in alongside Melon. The first team members are brought on. The studio stops being a two-person operation.
The team moves to Onyx Towers in Barsha Heights and launches its own album and print line. Beautiful work deserves to live somewhere beautiful.
The studio crosses 500 weddings shot. The whole team flies to Tbilisi, Georgia, to celebrate. The receipts have been quietly tucked away ever since.
Move into a 4,000 sqft warehouse. Production, post, planning, props, all finally under one roof. The studio’s current home.
The world shut down, we did not. The studio takes its first social media management project and quietly pivots toward content alongside the photography and film work.
Photography and film were always the heart, but the work had grown. We officially become a creative content agency: strategy, content, social, and the full production pipeline behind it.
We bring AI in as a tool, not a replacement. Faster edits, sharper visuals, the human still at the centre.
Hopefully the start of something good.
Three quick questions. We will tell you who from the crew should be on your shoot.
The Shed, Unit 1, Al Quoz 3, Dubai, UAE. The studio is our home base for shoots, edits and meetings, but the team works across the UAE and the wider Middle East regularly.
Since 2009. Seventeen years and counting. Melon and Arish Perez founded the studio after their own wedding photography missed the moments that mattered most.
A core team of twelve, plus a roster of trusted freelance photographers, videographers and editors we bring in for larger shoots. Small enough to be personal, big enough to handle multi-camera conferences and multi-day brand productions.
A mix of global brands (Mercedes, Nestlé, KPMG, UN Women, Uber, ACWA Power, Zoom), event agencies, schools, and individual founders building their personal brand. The common thread is that they care about how they are seen.
Yes. We travel regularly across the UAE (Abu Dhabi, Sharjah, Ras Al Khaimah) and the wider region, and have flown further afield for clients before. Just tell us where and when.
Yes to both. If you’re a photographer, videographer, editor or content creator who can tell a real story, send your CV and a few of your favourite frames to hello@melrish.com. We read every application.
One studio, one team. Whatever the brief, it lands with the same people.
Conferences, launches and gala dinners, with same-day delivery.
35 films: corporate, events, promos, award-winning shorts.
Founder-led content and corporate headshots for Dubai leaders.
Seventeen years of work in one place.
Documentary wedding photography and cinematic films.
WhatsApp, email, or send a brief. Reply in 24 to 48 hours.
Tell us what you’re planning. WhatsApp is fastest, we’ll come back the same day.
