November Photo Competition

Intro:

Photography provides us with an opportunity to stand still in this fast paced world where we hardly get a chance to pause, and literally capture a moment. It is great to capture a moment through your eyes and perspective and be capable of showing everyone else what you saw and how you saw it.

This month our entries for the photo competition have exhibited a lot of talent and passion - selecting the top three winners was extremely tough. Passion is a key element to taking a good photo. Deputy Picture Editor Sankha Kar noticed the talent that November brought and said: “The month of November has been very good in terms of reader photographs. Many of them can compete in any level and could probably win more awards.”

This month our winners range from a spectrum of creative careers and backgrounds, including photography, and we can see from their submissions they did not hold back when taking the winning images.

“We received many different subjects telling different stories. Many photos were also taken locally,” Kar added.

Profile 1:

Nawfal Jasem Jirjees knows what he’s doing when he’s handling the lens. He picked up photography in 2006 as a hobby and his relationship with the camera lens just grew from there. He’s nurtured his hobby to a talent and has submitted several photos to competitions in the past and won first place in three. As a 34-year-old architect, Nafwal is surely no stranger to the science behind art. He says he’s particularly fond of street photography, which features objects and subjects of images in candid shots interacting in public spaces. He tells us that he particularly loves street photography because he likes capturing specific images through his different angles.

Nawfal’s street pictures spread across the globe, with images taken from Italy, to Turkey to right here in Dubai. His image that won with the Gulf News was taken on a drive from Sharjah to Abu Dhabi.

Reason for winning - Kar said: “The approach is very good. Diagonal placement of subject along with motion added life to the picture. Lighting and the texture of the sand created the extra drama.

Profile 2:

Mohammad Hassan Farooq has just begun his career as a full time web developer. He was wooed by photography by its ability to highlight his personal point of view. “In a single shot, (photographs) stop time, (They’re) there forever, there to hold.”

Alongside his career as a web-developer, 22-year-old Farooq is a passionate photographer. He thinks photography is a tool to channel his creative vision, and fulfills the needs to convey it.

Farooq is a resident of Sharjah, He tells Gulf News that he loves photography, and that he loves all types of photography; “No matter what is the subject, I think I have a treasure of creative idea’s and this is the only way to expose them.”

Reason for winning - Kar said: “Photographing children is always very difficult. This is a great candid shot. The added value is the expression and the eyes. The exposure is very good.”

Profile 3

The 39-year-old Dubai resident Rajendrakumar Andiappen is definitely bursting with creative talent. Alongside his clearly wonderful talent for photography, Andiappen has other hobbies including painting. He says photography is a special form of art because “photography is easier and can involve you any time… I can click nice pictures of unique scenes.”

Andiappen works as an art director in an ad agency in Dubai, fuelling his creativity into a career. He also has a keen interest in music. When it comes to photography he prefers Nature and wildlife photography. He said: “But I don’t like to miss the chances of shooting a city and architecture.”

Reason for winning - Kar said: “Picture taken from a different angle always attracts a viewer’s eye. A very dramatic shot and the exposure is also well controlled.”

- The writer is a trainee with Gulf News