Arts & Culture

Eve Arnold in the Trucial States: The United Arab Emirates before Federation

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Eve Arnold Children at the harbor, c. 1970. Courtesy of Beinecke Rare Books and Manuscript Library, Yale University. © Eve Arnold | Magnum Photos
Eve Arnold Posters showing popular dancers and acrobats, c. 1970. Courtesy of Beinecke Rare Books and Manuscript Library, Yale University. © Eve Arnold | Magnum Photos
Eve Arnold “Guests at a feast in the bride’s home, Abu Dhabi, 1971.” Courtesy of Beinecke Rare Books and Manuscript Library, Yale University. © Eve Arnold | Magnum Photos
Eve Arnold New construction on the harbor front, c. 1970. Courtesy of Beinecke Rare Books and Manuscript Library, Yale University. © Eve Arnold | Magnum Photos
Eve Arnold Contact sheet from the Eve Arnold Collection (YCAL MSS 611, Box 121) at the Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library, Yale University. According to the library catalog, the Eve Arnold Papers conta (...)
Eve Arnold “Grooms and camels await arrival of Sheikh Rashid, Ruler of Dubai, so race can begin, Dubai, 1971.” Eve Arnold attended the wedding celebrations as a guest of the Al Maktoum family and was granted (...)
Eve Arnold “Camel and Jeep race,” c. 1971. Camel racing was a popular sport in the Trucial States, and continues even today in the UAE although much has changed in regard to safety and compliance. This photo (...)
Eve Arnold "Bedouin wife and husband in their tent, Abu Dhabi, 1970.” Tribal life in the Trucial States defined the culture of the fishing ports along the Persian Gulf as well as the migratory communities of (...)
Eve Arnold “Baluchistan family before their tent in Dubai, 1970.” The Baluch are historically a semi-nomadic ethnic group, whose traditional homelands lie in Southwestern Asia, in what is now Pakistan, Iran, (...)
Eve Arnold View of the coastline along the Persian Gulf, c. 1970. It is unclear how Arnold took this set of photographs, which today could be attributed to drone photography. The elevated view shows tradition (...)
Eve Arnold Dhows and small boats at the port, c. 1970. Through much of the first half of the twentieth century, pearl diving and commercial fishing were the primary livelihoods of the coastal communities of t (...)
Eve Arnold “Sailor in Dhow, Dubai harbor, 1970.” The photograph shows a young man, beaming towards the camera as he holds a transistor radio in his hand. It is a poignant reminder that traditional livelihoods (...)
Eve Arnold Workers, c. 1970. Much of the workforce employed in developing the Trucial States came from Pakistan, Egypt, and India. The photograph shows not only a mix of ethnicities, but of professions, from (...)
Eve Arnold Grocery shopping in the bazaar, c. 1970. This scene of an Emirati family is powerful in capturing a moment that is now relegated to the past. Such a simple family outing, with women selling fresh v (...)
Eve Arnold Man outside a barbershop, c. 1970. Another scene of quotidian life in the Trucial States before urban development would transform the neighborhoods of Dubai, Sharjah and Abu Dhabi. Arnold was an em (...)
Eve Arnold “Bank teller in the purdah (women’s) section, Dubai, 1970.” Public institutions such as banks and schools were the backbones of development efforts undertaken in the Trucial States. The Imperial Ba (...)
Eve Arnold “Children of nomadic tribesman in school, Abu Dhabi, 1970.” The first school with a comprehensive and modern curriculum was established in Sharjah in 1953, first for boys and then for girls. Educat (...)
Eve Arnold “Women in adult literacy evening classes, Abu Dhabi, 1970.” Public education was well-established by the time that Arnold took this striking image of young women in Abu Dhabi. In Dubai, Ras Al Khai (...)
Eve Arnold “Hotel construction on shores of Persian Gulf, April 1970.” Arnold was witness to the massive development projects that would entirely transform the Trucial States. The master plans for Dubai and A (...)
Eve Arnold Dubai under construction, c. 1970. The photograph shows new construction interspersed between older structures, such as the wind towers (barjīl or bādgīr) that were an integral part of residential (...)
Eve Arnold “Dubai Villa, 1970.” At once kitschy and flamboyant, the exuberant façade of this “villa” –as an upper middle class, free-standing house was called – exemplifies the changing demographics of Dubai. (...)
Eve Arnold Al-Jahili Fort, Al Ain, Abu Dhabi, 1970. The desert oasis of Al-Ain is a historical city on the eastern edge of Abu Dhabi, and home to the Al Jahili Fort. Built in 1891, the fort would retain signi (...)
Eve Arnold “Soldiers drilling outside al-Ain Fort, Abu Dhabi,” 1970. Each emirate had its own “ruler-controlled” military until the armed forced were unified in 1971, the same time as the official foundation (...)
Eve Arnold “Man at Prayer at harbor, Ras al Khaimah, April 1970.” Eve Arnold captures this quiet moment of prayer, cropping out the bustling activity taking place around the man. The wind gently lifts the fab (...)
Eve Arnold View of the coastline along the Persian Gulf, c. 1970. It is unclear how Arnold took this set of photographs, which today could be attributed to drone photography. The elevated view shows tradition (...)
UAE. Dubai. Four veiled women inside the wall of their harem. 1971.
ABU DHABI. A teacher in a literacy class for adults. 1970.
UNITED ARAB EMIRATES. A truckload of new recruits from Iran. 1971.
UNITED ARAB EMIRATES. Racing camels in Dubai. 1971.
United Arab Emirates. Religious wedding of the Crown Prince of Dubai. 1971.
UNITED ARAB EMIRATES. Abu Dhabi. 1970. Sheikh Zayed.
UNITED ARAB EMIRATES. Abu Dhabi. 1970. Trucial States.
UNITED ARAB EMIRATES. Abu Dhabi. 1970. Camel race.
UNITED ARAB EMIRATES. Abu Dhabi. 1970. The ruler's army making a salute.
Eve Arnold Dubai, UAE, 1971. © Eve Arnold | Magnum Photos
UNITED ARAB EMIRATES. Dubai. Making pancakes for a feast. 1971.
UNITED ARAB EMIRATES. Dubai. Preparing onions for a wedding. 1971.
UNITED ARAB EMIRATES. Dubai. Henna for a royal wedding. 1971.
UNITED ARAB EMIRATES. Coffee grinding. 1970.
UNITED ARAB EMIRATES. Abu-Dhabi. Friend of the ruler, Sheik Zaid. 1970.
INDIA. Dubai. Prince Maktoum, younger son of the ruler of Dubai. 1971.
UNITED ARAB EMIRATES. Dubai. Dancing boys entertain the men nightly. 1971.
UNITED ARAB EMIRATES. Dubai. Drawing water in a Barbadti (Bomboo hut). 1971.
UNITED ARAB EMIRATES. Dubai. Children of Nomadic tribesmen in school. 1971.
UNITED ARAB EMIRATES. Dubai. Vegetable souk. 1971.
UNITED ARAB EMIRATES. Dubai. Sailors waiting to board ship to India. 1971.