Photography Views of Riyadh

I

remember arriving in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, for the first time in a night flight looking the city from above and I thought; “Wow, this is vast…”, that was my first impression when I looked at the continuous city lights of five million people that is built horizontally that some point abruptly ends where the desert starts.

During the flight, I questioned my decision to change a great summer in Barcelona for a work project in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, my sense of adventure and exploring the unknown got the better of me and I decided to embark in this adventure to somewhere that I didn’t have much background information about it, but let’s do this!!

My time living in Riyadh happened before the social changes implemented by the new regime, my point of view came from a time when women couldn’t drive, the Mutawa religious police were still lurking in shadows, but I could feel the upcoming social changes especially having contact with young Saudis and they expectations, therefore I encountered a welcoming people, great outdoors, a tight and friendly expat community, amazing food and an absolutely busy, crazy metropolis, where the new and modern blends with the desert life and tradition, with fast cars zigzagging less powerful cars and immigrant worker pick-ups, them the skyscrapers providing captivating views and sunrises, that is when the shy graffiti that started appearing, it all looked different and visually interesting for photography.

After a few weeks driving from my compound in the desert to the city center I was assured that this would be very different summer and experience.

This photography story aims to show some of the visual characteristics of Riyadh, from the never-ending city view to the imposing skyscrapers, the brown colour palette inherited by the desert and sand, to the night city lights.