In 1968, by chance I discovered a region known as “Pirate Coast” on a world map. A sandy country lost in the south of Arabia, which had just acquired a new emir and was much sought after by the oil companies after the discovery of massive black gold reserve. Fast forward forty-seven years and Pirate Coast, a former British governate, has become the United Arab Emirates with Abu Dhabi as its capital. Nowadays, everyone has heard of this a bustling, immensely wealthy, modern city. Anyway, that’s where I landed with Raymond Depardon in April 1968, while back in Paris things were in turmoil. We were on our way back after making a documentary on King Faisal of Arabia and I thought a stopover on this Pirate Coast could give us a few surprises. And it certainly didn’t let us down. The first surprise came at the airport with its control tower built from concrete blocks and a corrugated iron roof.
Then, by sheer luck, we stumbled upon a meeting of the nine Gulf emirs who had come together to decide whether or not to unite their territories.
Raymond ended up being invited by Sheikh Zayed to spend a week photographing them all in their Hollywood-style surroundings – a real treat for any photographer. In 1968, Abu Dhabi was still a fishing village of a few reed huts. There was a sandy road along which a couple of banks had been built, with a few small shops and the town’s only modern building, the Sheikh’s guesthouse where we stayed.
We then met Sheikh Rashid, who reigned over the neighbouring, more developed emirat of Dubai, and he invited us to visit him. Then there were the emirs of Qatar and Bahrain, and I persuaded them to invite us at a later date. Their invitation came in 1973, with Christain Simonpiétri as photographer. In the end, after the 1968 meeting, Qatar and Bahrain decided to remain independent.
EXHIBTION
Raymond Depardon
From 6 to 10 December 2015
La Sorbonne d’Abou Dhabi
Al Reem Island – Abu Dhabi
United Arab Emirates
http://www.sorbonne.ae
