The caption is frustratingly vague: “Abu Dhabi when it was beginning to be built up in the Sixties” but John Vale’s photograph does indeed show a hive of activity. As well as the two smiling men, probably unused to being in front of the camera, the number of pedestrians on the move and vehicles suggests Abu Dhabi is very much in business; the business of growth.
The road to greater prosperity may have been paved with hard-packed sand and not tarmac, but you can almost hear the car horns blaring.
Just when was this action shot looking down Airport Road towards the coast actually taken? The biggest clue comes in the form of the arch spanning the road beneath the familiar falcon emblem and portrait of the late President, Sheikh Zayed, one of the many that adorned the booming town at this important moment of celebration.
The Arabic reads: “The Pakistani community congratulates the people on the anniversary of the Ruler’s ascension to power” and, together with the still-fluttering red and white flags of Abu Dhabi, this dates Vale’s visit to the month of August between 1967 to 1970. After December 2, 1971, when the seven emirates joined together and the national flag was raised for the first time, National Day became the day to celebrate a different flag.
Eagle-eyed readers will also spot: the roof of the souq in the distance on the right, and the angular, modern Philips building just in shot behind the arch on the left. The imposing white facade that appears just over the young men’s shoulders, belongs to one of the modern bank buildings that once stood on Abu Dhabi’s seafront.
* Clare Dight