Can a camel smile? Before he visited the UAE last summer, the German photographer Ralf Baumgarten would probably have laughed at the question. But after photographing 60 camels, he is no longer so sure. "I was surprised to find out that camels can have so many different characters and can show such a variety of expressions," said the Cologne-based photographer, who specialises in portraits of people but takes on other work as well. His unusual commission came from the Emirates Industry for Camel Milk and Products, which invited him to Dubai to take promotional photographs on its camel dairy farm. The results were remarkable. As with portraits of people, those of camels offer glimpses of character traits. Baumgarten's photographs suggest that camels have as much their own distinctive personalities and quirks as humans. "Some camels are shy, some laugh and some look fierce," he said. Dr Ulrich Wernery, the scientific director of the Central Veterinary Research Laboratory in Dubai, agreed. "They are very intelligent animals. They recognise and follow their owner but only if he or she sees them often and feeds them on a regular basis." Camels are known to remember bad treatment and even when in a good mood, they can be the most stubborn of creatures, as the owner of one elite racing camel can testify. It was in the lead during a recent race, one of the most important of the season, but in the final stretch it spotted a patch of green hedge next to the track. "Suddenly the camel stopped and started grazing on the hedge. No one could make it move. All the other camels overtook it," said Dr Wernery. Another foible that Baumgarten experienced was that, like many people, camels can be temperamental. They were not the easiest subjects to capture on camera. The shoots were done in a special area on the farm. Silence was ordered on "set" and Baumgarten's crew were careful to avoid hasty movements that might alarm their subjects. The "models", most of which were female, had to be brought in pairs to keep one another calm and soothe those front-of-camera nerves. Even so, some animals found it all a bit too much and walked off the set. "Camels do have a very special character," observed Dr Wernery. Baumgarten's work was exhibited at the farm and there are tentative plans to show the camel models to a wider audience. vtodorova@thenational.ae To view of more of Ralf Baumgarten's portraits see www.thenational.ae/inpictures