Tributes have been paid to David Riley, whose photographs captured a wholly different Abu Dhabi six decades ago.
Mr Riley, a UK citizen, came to Abu Dhabi in 1962 to work for the British Bank of the Middle East.
Along the way he captured striking images of villages, souqs, oases, deserts and the resilient people who lived here at a time just after the discovery of oil and its promise of reshaping the nation.
Mr Riley died on September 23 in the UK aged 85, a family member confirmed. His remarkable collection, which has been donated to the UAE National Library and Archives (NLA), is a vivid record of a place on the cusp of huge transformation.
“I've heard those stories about his years in the Middle East many times,” his son, Pete Riley, told The National. “Those few years stayed with him all his life … and he was very proud of his time over there."
Pete described his father as quiet, contemplative, very intelligent and generous man who also had a keen interest in fishing.
After he returned to the UK in the mid-1960s, Mr Riley's photographic collection sat in a box at the bottom of a wardrobe for many years before being digitised, which renewed interest in the photos, some of which have appeared in The National.
“That old wooden box of slides that I remember in the wardrobe as a child led to a fascinating story that gave him the chance to relive those old times,” his son said.
Mr Riley then donated the collection to the NLA, which has preserved them for future generations. They are available for the public to access on the Arabian Gulf Digital Archive website.
Dr Hazza Al Naqbi, acting director of the archives department at the NLA told The National: “The UAE National Library and Archives is greatly saddened to learn of the passing of David Riley.
“We are extremely grateful to David for his generosity in donating his valuable collection of photographs to the NLA and adding greatly to the history of the UAE. His collection contains a number of rare photographs that will forever be linked with his name at the NLA. On behalf of the whole of the NLA, we would like to offer our condolences to David’s family.”
When Mr Riley moved to Abu Dhabi, the region was still known as the Trucial States with unification of the UAE still several years away.
"It just appealed to me,” he told The National in 2017, of the decision to move to Abu Dhabi. "It was the right time and I hadn't gone to university.”
That early 1960s town seems impossible to comprehend now. It was a place of traditional barasti (date palm branches) dwellings dominated by the Qasr Al Hosn stone fort.
Only a handful of western expatriates lived there and life was more freewheeling. Mr Riley recalled a few shops selling basic items, such as tinned food and rice. Fresh food was flown in daily from Bahrain to an airport that was then just a sandy strip, with oil drums marking the runway.
But the winds of change were in the air. Oil had been found in 1958 and the first shipments had left for international markets the same year he arrived.
The Beach Hotel, Abu Dhabi’s first modern hotel, was about to open and more development was taking place.
One of Mr Riley’s main tasks was to oversee a mobile banking service from the back of a Land Rover for construction workers in Tarif and Jebel Dhanna in the Western Region, as building for the oil industry gathered pace.
Along the way he met UAE Founding Father, the late Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan, and other dignitaries such as British political agent in Abu Dhabi, Col Sir Hugh Boustead.
But he also spent time taking photographs. For Mr Riley, this was a hobby but he had a remarkable eye. Using a 35-millimetre German Voigtlander, he captured a world that was set to change beyond all recognition.
The collection features shots of Qasr Al Hosn, the old Maqta Causeway that connected Abu Dhabi island to the mainland, flooding on the quay and striking aerial photographs of Abu Dhabi and Dubai Creek, along with the people who lived and worked there.
The shots of Abu Dhabi, for example, show a small town surrounded by vast expanses of sand and blue sea. Images of Dubai Creek show a town that was then just the three neighbourhoods of Bur Dubai, Deira and Al Shindagha centred around the Creek.
“He didn’t think of them as special,” said Pete Riley. “He just thought of them as photos of his time there. The fact the UAE National Archives was interested was something he was immensely proud of.”
Mr Riley left Abu Dhabi in 1964 and moved back to the UK permanently after a brief assignment in Jordan. Survived by his wife, two children, grandchildren and a great grandson, his photographs provide an enduring and crucial record of a decisive moment in modern-day UAE history.
Best Foreign Language Film nominees
Capernaum (Lebanon)
Cold War (Poland)
Never Look Away (Germany)
Roma (Mexico)
Shoplifters (Japan)
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Allardyce's management career
Clubs (10) - Limerick (1991-1992), Perston North End (1992), Blackpool (1994-1996), Notts County (1997-1999), Bolton Wanderers (1999-2007), Newcastle United (2007-2008), Blackburn Rovers (2008-2010), West Ham United (2011-2015), Sunderland (2016), Crystal Palace (2016-2017)
Countries (1) - England (2016)
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Killing of Qassem Suleimani
Mercer, the investment consulting arm of US services company Marsh & McLennan, expects its wealth division to at least double its assets under management (AUM) in the Middle East as wealth in the region continues to grow despite economic headwinds, a company official said.
Mercer Wealth, which globally has $160 billion in AUM, plans to boost its AUM in the region to $2-$3bn in the next 2-3 years from the present $1bn, said Yasir AbuShaban, a Dubai-based principal with Mercer Wealth.
“Within the next two to three years, we are looking at reaching $2 to $3 billion as a conservative estimate and we do see an opportunity to do so,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Mercer does not directly make investments, but allocates clients’ money they have discretion to, to professional asset managers. They also provide advice to clients.
“We have buying power. We can negotiate on their (client’s) behalf with asset managers to provide them lower fees than they otherwise would have to get on their own,” he added.
Mercer Wealth’s clients include sovereign wealth funds, family offices, and insurance companies among others.
From its office in Dubai, Mercer also looks after Africa, India and Turkey, where they also see opportunity for growth.
Wealth creation in Middle East and Africa (MEA) grew 8.5 per cent to $8.1 trillion last year from $7.5tn in 2015, higher than last year’s global average of 6 per cent and the second-highest growth in a region after Asia-Pacific which grew 9.9 per cent, according to consultancy Boston Consulting Group (BCG). In the region, where wealth grew just 1.9 per cent in 2015 compared with 2014, a pickup in oil prices has helped in wealth generation.
BCG is forecasting MEA wealth will rise to $12tn by 2021, growing at an annual average of 8 per cent.
Drivers of wealth generation in the region will be split evenly between new wealth creation and growth of performance of existing assets, according to BCG.
Another general trend in the region is clients’ looking for a comprehensive approach to investing, according to Mr AbuShaban.
“Institutional investors or some of the families are seeing a slowdown in the available capital they have to invest and in that sense they are looking at optimizing the way they manage their portfolios and making sure they are not investing haphazardly and different parts of their investment are working together,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Some clients also have a higher appetite for risk, given the low interest-rate environment that does not provide enough yield for some institutional investors. These clients are keen to invest in illiquid assets, such as private equity and infrastructure.
“What we have seen is a desire for higher returns in what has been a low-return environment specifically in various fixed income or bonds,” he said.
“In this environment, we have seen a de facto increase in the risk that clients are taking in things like illiquid investments, private equity investments, infrastructure and private debt, those kind of investments were higher illiquidity results in incrementally higher returns.”
The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, one of the largest sovereign wealth funds, said in its 2016 report that has gradually increased its exposure in direct private equity and private credit transactions, mainly in Asian markets and especially in China and India. The authority’s private equity department focused on structured equities owing to “their defensive characteristics.”
The Freedom Artist
By Ben Okri (Head of Zeus)
The flights: South African Airways flies from Dubai International Airport with a stop in Johannesburg, with prices starting from around Dh4,000 return. Emirates can get you there with a stop in Lusaka from around Dh4,600 return.
The details: Visas are available for 247 Zambian kwacha or US$20 (Dh73) per person on arrival at Livingstone Airport. Single entry into Victoria Falls for international visitors costs 371 kwacha or $30 (Dh110). Microlight flights are available through Batoka Sky, with 15-minute flights costing 2,265 kwacha (Dh680).
Accommodation: The Royal Livingstone Victoria Falls Hotel by Anantara is an ideal place to stay, within walking distance of the falls and right on the Zambezi River. Rooms here start from 6,635 kwacha (Dh2,398) per night, including breakfast, taxes and Wi-Fi. Water arrivals cost from 587 kwacha (Dh212) per person.
How England have scored their set-piece goals in Russia
Three Penalties
v Panama, Group Stage (Harry Kane)
v Panama, Group Stage (Kane)
v Colombia, Last 16 (Kane)
Four Corners
v Tunisia, Group Stage (Kane, via John Stones header, from Ashley Young corner)
v Tunisia, Group Stage (Kane, via Harry Maguire header, from Kieran Trippier corner)
v Panama, Group Stage (Stones, header, from Trippier corner)
v Sweden, Quarter-Final (Maguire, header, from Young corner)
One Free-Kick
v Panama, Group Stage (Stones, via Jordan Henderson, Kane header, and Raheem Sterling, from Tripper free-kick)
