Hello guys, it's been a while I haven't posted on the blog. I just got back from a week in Saudi Arabia for umrah and it was great! And guess what? I just found out that i was a runner-up (not 2nd, but like saguhati i think, sigh) in a photography competition that i entered here in Muscat! I won a photography workshop by Herschel Mair and my winning picture will be exhibited in the Bait Al Zubair Museum Muscat for a month :D Good enough.. Here's the article :-
Winning photographers awarded
Times News Service
Saturday, April 18, 2009 1:48:21 AM Oman Time
MUSCAT — The winners of the second ‘Celebrate’ photography competition, organised by Zubair Corporation and Bait Al Zubair Foundation, in collaboration with the Ministry of Education and sponsored by Chrysler, Fujifilm and Photocentre, have been awarded.
Dr Muna bint Salim Al Gardani, undersecretary for education and curriculum at the Ministry of Education, presented the prizes to the winners and also inaugurated a month-long exhibition at Bait Al Zubair Museum. The panel of six judges, who were recognised at this event, included Herschel Mair, photographer and head of the Photography Department at the Higher College of Technology; Maryam Al Zadjali, artist and director of Omani Society for Fine Arts; artist Ibrahim Al Busaidi, photographer and head of Photographic Club of OSFA, Zahran Al Shaqsi, cultural activities specialist; Salah Al Gharibi, section head of school groups from the Ministry of Education and Sarah White, arts adviser to Bait Al Zubair Foundation.
Tough talk
The esteemed judges had a tough time selecting the winning photographs from over 450 entries from Grade 9-12 students from Government, Private and International Schools in Muscat, Dakhliyah and Al Batinah South regions.
Local dignitaries, young photographers and their families gathered at Bait Al Zubair Museum for the prize-giving ceremony and inauguration of the exhibition.
Hilal Al Siyabi, head of communications, Zubair Corporation, opened the proceedings with a welcome speech. He then invited Dr Muna bint Salim Al Gardani on to the stage with Mohammad Al Zubair to distribute the prizes.
Speaking on the occasion, Hilal Al Siyabi said: “Photography is considered one of the most influential art forms that is developed with technology. This is the second “Celebrate” competition we have hosted. One of the prize-winners in the last competition has gone on to become the head of Photography Club at Sultan Qaboos University.”
Jaclynne Tan from American British Academy won the first prize in the Omani Heritage category, while Turkiyah bint Abdullah bin Saif Al Harasiyah from South Batinah Basic Education School won the second prize and Abdul Al Majid bin Abdullah bin Nasser Al Alawi from Bahla Basic Education School won the third prize. Runners-up in this category were Buthaina bint Marhun bin Hamad Al Dhamriyah from Nusseibah bint Kaab Secondary School, Khamis bin Salim bin Khamis Al Hinai from Saad bin Al Rabia School and Nina from The British School Muscat.
Top prizes
The top three won fantastic cameras. All first prize-winners received a Fujifilm Fine pix s100, whilst second prize winners bagged Fujifilm Finepix S8100 and third prize winners received Finepix Z200. The top three and the three runners-up in each category will also be able to develop their photographic dexterity at an inspiring photography workshop later this year.
After the prize-giving, Dr Muna Bint Salim Al Gardani inaugurated the exhibition that will be open with free admission for the public till May 16. The museum and exhibition can be viewed from Saturdays to Thursdays from 9.30 am to 1 pm and 4 pm to 7 pm.
