The Abu Dhabi Authority for Culture and Heritage (ADACH) announced a new photography competition as part of the Dhafra Festival, which runs from December 23, 2008 until January 4, 2009 in Zayed City in the Western Region. The Festival is sponsored by Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Deputy Commander of the Armed Forces.
The competition reflects ADACH’s belief in the value of photographs as living documents that transfer real events and archives them into a sense of aesthetic sensitivity, and which add to the traditional value of the Festival’s artistic dimensions, and aesthetic and magical visions.
The competition involves images of daily events of the Festival, and artistic images that highlight the beauty of camels and their relationships with humans, in addition to the beauty of nature in the region which hosts the Festival.
The material value of the prize for the first place winner is 20,000 UAE dirhams, second place gets 15,000 dirhams, third place is 12,000 dirhams, and fourth place is given 10,000 dirhams, in addition to other awards and certificates of appreciation granted by ADACH and the Organising Committee.
The new competition is designed to achieve a set of goals, notably to boost the photography movement in the United Arab Emirates, create greater communication between the generations, increase environmental awareness, revive interest in heritage in line with technological, artistic and cultural developments, and shed light on the Bedouin community and their patterns of life.
All this is in view of the historical value of the rich desert culture, which has affected Arab and Western societies alike, prompting a number of early Orientalists, explorers and travellers to go deep into the unknown to search for its magic and learn from its legacy, through photographs, which are today a living for generations to come.
ADACH called on photographers interested in the United Arab Emirates to participate in the competition, and to transfer the event through photographs that reflect their creative and artistic abilities.
http://www.adach.ae/adach/press-center/news/en/06-11-2008.php