In February 2005, Roger Federer met Andre Agassi on the helipad of Burj Al Arab for a friendly game of tennis. It was one of the most memorable moments in local sports history and perhaps nobody remembers it better than Jorge Ferrari.
The Argentinian photographer, who lives in Sharjah, was on the sidelines of the grassy court on that day. The match was initially set to be a promotional shot organised for the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships. But as the two tennis stars met 200 metres above sea level, Ferrari says excitement took over.
“They really had a great time,” Ferrari says. “Because we were supposed to be there for five minutes and we ended up being there for 30 minutes. They took [turns] seeing who could hit the ball farthest towards the sea.”
Ferrari says he could not have imagined the impact the photographs he took that day would have and how quickly they’d be picked up by international media. This was, of course, in the days before social media. Yet, the images documenting the match went viral anyway, and it was as much as a promotion of Dubai as it was of the tennis event.
The photographs show the two tennis players in a friendly game and the helipad decked as a grassy court. It is the sight surrounding them that makes the scene particularly spectacular, presenting Madinat Jumeirah and the city’s coast.
“There were three photographers that day,” Ferrari recalls. “Of course, there were no drones. One photographer was in a helicopter. I was on the ground, on the actual court. Then there was another photographer on the back of the helipad.”
That day was also significant for Ferrari as it reinforced the decision he made years ago to move to the Gulf. He had travelled from Argentina to Kuwait as a young man in 1986, initially uncertain of what he would find in the region.
“My uncle lived in Kuwait, and he is still there today,” he says. “I wanted to go and see the world. And he gave me the chance.”
Ferrari had studied journalism, but as most opportunities for journalists in the region were for Arabic publications, he decided to hone his skills as a photographer instead.
“I did a bit of work for Reuters [in Kuwait] at the time,” he says. “We did a few sporting events, but mostly I was doing general and commercial photography.”
Ferrari’s career was just picking up when Iraq launched its invasion of Kuwait in August 1990, and so the photographer moved to the UAE.
“I had just married, and my wife's father lived in Ras Al Khaimah, so it was a logical move,” he says. “It was 1990, Ras Al Khaimah was a sleepy town. Sharjah was a sleepy town. Dubai was a bit more [busy], but it was still small.”
In the UAE, Ferrari started afresh. He found work covering the country’s various motorsports tournaments, cementing his decision to become a dedicated sports photographer.
“In the 1990s, as a photographer, you couldn't really choose a line of photography because there wasn't enough work,” he says. “You had to do a little bit of everything. But with the growth of the country as a sporting destination, opportunities to focus more on sport started appearing. I started putting my energy into that, until one day I said: 'That's it. This is what I want to do'.”
Within a decade, Ferrari would start brushing shoulders with some of the world’s top sports figures. One of his most memorable encounters, Ferrari says, was meeting his compatriot Diego Maradona.
Ferrari met and photographed Maradona while the football legend was attending the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships in 2013. Ferrari, by then, had a long-standing relationship with the tournament’s organisers, having covered the event for years.
However, he never imagined that he would not only meet one of football’s greatest stars, but also snap a candid photograph of Maradona meeting Federer. It captured a unique moment of two formidable sportsmen expressing admiration for one another.
“I am Argentinian, so I have a soft spot for Maradona,” Ferrari says. “Maradona kept saying that he wanted to meet Federer, so after the match, the two met. It was a very small space, with lots of people. I [managed to get] next to Maradona, because I wouldn’t be able to get the shot otherwise.”
He recalls how Maradona's eyes lit up like a child when he saw Federer before the two embraced.
Across an almost 40-year career in the Gulf, Ferrari has managed to be on the front lines of some of the most important sporting events in the region, from F1 races to football matches and sailing tournaments.
He was in Jeddah for the heavyweight boxing match between Anthony Joshua and Oleksandr Usyk in 2022. He was in Riyadh in January 2023, when Cristiano Ronaldo was presented to Al Nassr fans as the club’s newest member. A photograph by Ferrari was used as a promotional image as part of the official announcement of Saudi Arabia's bid for the 2034 Fifa World Cup.
As such, Ferrari has been on the sidelines of most of the landmark sporting events in the region. Surprisingly, he didn't photograph the 2022 Fifa World Cup in Qatar. But he was there. As an avid football fan, Ferrari says he attended the games not to work, but rather as a spectator.
Ferrari was also named an ambassador for Canon a few years ago, in a position that secured his long-standing relationship with the photography company.
“I was photographing using film before,” he says. “This other brand I was using was slow in adapting digital technology. But when digital cameras were launched by Canon, I changed. I’ve been with Canon since. I’m not a nerd about technology, but I like my tools to be up to date.”
Ferrari says he has been fascinated at the pace at which the technology of photography has developed throughout his career, and he has sought to be at the front line of these innovations, moving from film to digital, and from DSLR to mirrorless cameras.
As part of his role with Canon, Ferrari says he gets to try out some of the latest advancements in photography early on; he also frequently leads workshops to help enthusiasts and professionals develop their skills.
Ferrari says the region at the present holds opportunities for budding photographers like never before, with several events across many tiers that can help newcomers advance their skills.
“You have the massive events, then you have smaller ones,” he says. “That requires a lot of photographers and it gives new photographers the chance to progress and learn. You can start with smaller events, practise, get better and then move one step up and then another. It’s very vibrant now.”
