Attention all budding photographers: There are just two weeks remaining for final submissions to the Abu Dhabi Through Your Eyes competition (ADTYE) as the July 15th deadline is fast approaching.
Open to all photographers, be they professional or amateur, ADTYE intends to challenge resident and visiting photographers to share their unique views and perspectives of Abu Dhabi in order to successfully capture the spirit of the emirate. Participants are encouraged to showcase Abu Dhabi through one of the eight recommended focus pillars of architecture, art, scenic, events, nature & wildlife, traditions, moments and people. As you can see these are pretty wide guidelines and the aim is to present a snapshot of what the emirate means to you.
Your shoddy Instagram pictures simply won’t do however, as photos will also have to mean something to other people as well, with entries being judged by an esteemed panel of experts who come from a diverse mix of backgrounds. These judges include artist, poet, and photojournalist Alia Al Shamsi, professor of photography at NYU Abu Dhabi Tarek Al Ghoussein, co-director of “Gulf Photo Plus” Mohammed Somji, award-winning visual journalist Brian Kerrigan, and Lamya Gargash, an Emirati photographer with a Master’s Degree in Communications Design.
In addition to the main category, the ADTYE has also introduced a new category exclusively for students to encourage a younger generation of emerging photographers. This innovation was made possible via coordination with a range of the emirate’s top universities, all of whom are fully committed to raising awareness of the competition among students as an opportunity to nurture young talent.
Across the “general” submission category, first, second and third-place winners will receive AED 50,000, AED 35,000 and AED 20,000 respectively whereas participants ranked fourth to tenth-place will each receive AED 10,000. In the “students” category, first, second and third-place winners will receive AED 15,000, AED 10,000 and AED 5,000 respectively. All winners will also receive a mix of prizes – including photography kits and an assortment of lifestyle vouchers. Just in case the money wasn’t enough incentive.
National Geographic Al Arabiya has also created an exclusive prize to be awarded to a selected recipient, with winnings include a free one-year annual subscription to the magazine, and an exclusive behind-the-scenes workshop with publication staff. In addition, the winner will have the opportunity to participate in selecting the cover of the upcoming October 2016 issue and decide on the final images for the “Readers’ shots” section. So, what are you waiting for? Get shooting. Shooting pictures on cameras, that is. We’d like to clarify that are we do not condone the shooting of anything else apart from lovely photos.
Entries can be completed via the competition’s website at AbuDhabiTYE.com, with winners being selected and announced on the 26th September 2016.