Leila Alaoui was on assignment in Burkina Faso in January 2016 when her car was gunned down by militants attached to extremist group Al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb. At the time, the French-Moroccan photographer was shooting images for a feature by Amnesty International on women’s rights. She survived the attack, but died three days later of heart failure, at the age of 33. Moroccan king Mohammed VI helped support the repatriation of her remains.
Alaoui's images are now on show in the UK for the first time, for Leila Alaoui: Rite of Passage, at Somerset House in London until February 28. The show's four bodies of work sketch out the breadth of her style, which sits in the productive intersection between photojournalism and art photography.
"In all her works, she was looking to build a connection between the viewer and the subject, people that she met," says the show's curator Grace Perrett, who worked with Alaoui's gallery and foundation to set up the show. "You might have very different lives to them and be in very different places, but she wanted you to build a kind of intimacy and an empathy with the people she pictured."
The black-and-white series No Pasara ("No Passage", 2008) and Natreen ("We Wait", 2013), the earliest works in the exhibition, picture refugees waiting to cross the Mediterranean. Alaoui photographed North Africans in north Moroccan port cites, heading to Spain, for No Pasara, and in Natreen, Syrians in refugee camps in Lebanon, documenting the combination of home life and transit stations for families in states of limbo.
As in her later series, Alaoui excelled at capturing stories within the lines and expressions of subjects' faces. In Natreen, a young woman looks to the side as she waits, arms crossed over a steel barrier, appearing both disappointed and resigned. Another shows a man in a black jacket holding a young child, in an oversize sweater. On one side of the couple is a water tank on cinderblocks; on the other, a woman exits a tent and a boy smiles sweetly through gapped teeth.
While Natreen and No Pasara focused on the plight of migrants, Alaoui turned to those within her native country for The Moroccans (2010-2014). The series was inspired by Robert Frank's The Americans (1958), in which the photographer took a road trip across the US, documenting ordinary people as they danced, shopped, ate and worked. In her version of this famous work, Alaoui – who was born to a French mother and Moroccan father – similarly demonstrates the range of the country's people, from those in the coastal regions to Berbers in the Atlas Mountains and tribes at the edges of the Sahara. But she swaps Frank's informal style for depictions that deliberately add dignity and gravitas in their composition.
She travelled around the country with a mobile photography studio, taking pictures of each figure against a black backdrop. The standardisation of their context adds to the idea of individuality: each meets the camera’s gaze not as a representative of a region or tribe, but as a person from a particular context.
“Moroccans have the most complicated relationship to photography among Arabs because they are very apprehensive due to superstition,” Alaoui told writer Olivia Snaije in November 2015. “They are also tired of tourism, so there is a sort of rejection of the camera. My hope was to show traditional Moroccans without the folklore.”
Alaoui, who was born in France and raised in Morocco, studied anthropology in the US. She reportedly always wanted to be a photographer, and began shooting work at the age of 22.
Her pieces were always marked by the sophistication of her choices, as in her staging decisions for The Moroccans, and the arc of her career seemed to bend towards giving visibility to North African and Arab migrants, and towards different media and styles.
The exhibition finishes with her 2015 video L'ile du Diable (Devil's Island), in which Alaoui met the migrants on the other side of their journey: the French factories that employed North African migrants in the post-war era, where they met opportunity and hostility.
Devil’s Island refers to Seguin Island in the Seine in Paris, which housed a Renault car factory, and the video sets voices from striking workers from the factory alongside excerpts of speeches by former presidents Francois Mitterrand and Charles de Gaulle – which display a breathtaking level of discrimination.
Alaoui had envisioned a second part to the project, following the children of this first generation of migrants and confronting the radicalisation that many fell into. But, in an irony almost too gross to bear, she died before she could write this chapter in the history of contemporary migration.
Leila Alaoui: Rite of Passage is at Somerset House in London until Sunday, February 28
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.”
Bio:
Favourite Quote: Prophet Mohammad's quotes There is reward for kindness to every living thing and A good man treats women with honour
Favourite Hobby: Serving poor people
Favourite Book: The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho
Favourite food: Fish and vegetables
Favourite place to visit: London
Day 2, stumps
Pakistan 482
Australia 30/0 (13 ov)
Australia trail by 452 runs with 10 wickets remaining in the innings
Learn more about Qasr Al Hosn
In 2013, The National's History Project went beyond the walls to see what life was like living in Abu Dhabi's fabled fort:
The biog
Age: 32
Qualifications: Diploma in engineering from TSI Technical Institute, bachelor’s degree in accounting from Dubai’s Al Ghurair University, master’s degree in human resources from Abu Dhabi University, currently third years PHD in strategy of human resources.
Favourite mountain range: The Himalayas
Favourite experience: Two months trekking in Alaska
Need to know
The flights: Flydubai flies from Dubai to Kilimanjaro airport via Dar es Salaam from Dh1,619 return including taxes. The trip takes 8 hours.
The trek: Make sure that whatever tour company you select to climb Kilimanjaro, that it is a reputable one. The way to climb successfully would be with experienced guides and porters, from a company committed to quality, safety and an ethical approach to the mountain and its staff. Sonia Nazareth booked a VIP package through Safari Africa. The tour works out to $4,775 (Dh17,538) per person, based on a 4-person booking scheme, for 9 nights on the mountain (including one night before and after the trek at Arusha). The price includes all meals, a head guide, an assistant guide for every 2 trekkers, porters to carry the luggage, a cook and kitchen staff, a dining and mess tent, a sleeping tent set up for 2 persons, a chemical toilet and park entrance fees. The tiny ration of heated water provided for our bath in our makeshift private bathroom stall was the greatest luxury. A standard package, also based on a 4-person booking, works out to $3,050 (Dh11,202) per person.
When to go: You can climb Kili at any time of year, but the best months to ascend are January-February and September-October. Also good are July and August, if you’re tolerant of the colder weather that winter brings.
Do not underestimate the importance of kit. Even if you’re travelling at a relatively pleasant time, be geared up for the cold and the rain.
Herc's Adventures
Developer: Big Ape Productions
Publisher: LucasArts
Console: PlayStation 1 & 5, Sega Saturn
Rating: 4/5
Specs
Engine: Dual-motor all-wheel-drive electric
Range: Up to 610km
Power: 905hp
Torque: 985Nm
Price: From Dh439,000
Available: Now
Our legal columnist
Name: Yousef Al Bahar
Advocate at Al Bahar & Associate Advocates and Legal Consultants, established in 1994
Education: Mr Al Bahar was born in 1979 and graduated in 2008 from the Judicial Institute. He took after his father, who was one of the first Emirati lawyers
How tumultuous protests grew
- A fuel tax protest by French drivers appealed to wider anti-government sentiment
- Unlike previous French demonstrations there was no trade union or organised movement involved
- Demonstrators responded to online petitions and flooded squares to block traffic
- At its height there were almost 300,000 on the streets in support
- Named after the high visibility jackets that drivers must keep in cars
- Clashes soon turned violent as thousands fought with police at cordons
- An estimated two dozen people lost eyes and many others were admitted to hospital
Groom and Two Brides
Director: Elie Semaan
Starring: Abdullah Boushehri, Laila Abdallah, Lulwa Almulla
Rating: 3/5
Silent Hill f
Publisher: Konami
Platforms: PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S, PC
Rating: 4.5/5
8 traditional Jamaican dishes to try at Kingston 21
- Trench Town Rock: Jamaican-style curry goat served in a pastry basket with a carrot and potato garnish
- Rock Steady Jerk Chicken: chicken marinated for 24 hours and slow-cooked on the grill
- Mento Oxtail: flavoured oxtail stewed for five hours with herbs
- Ackee and salt fish: the national dish of Jamaica makes for a hearty breakfast
- Jamaican porridge: another breakfast favourite, can be made with peanut, cornmeal, banana and plantain
- Jamaican beef patty: a pastry with ground beef filling
- Hellshire Pon di Beach: Fresh fish with pickles
- Out of Many: traditional sweet potato pudding
