Photography competition ‘Moments’ has established itself as one of the largest and most popular competitions in the region.

Jamil Khan, Senior Reporter

National Geographic Abu Dhabi (NGAD) and Almarai announced  that over 50,000 photographs from across the Arab world have been submitted for the 9th edition of ‘Moments’, its annual regional photography competition to nurture the talent of aspiring regional photographers.

‘Moments’ has established itself as one of the largest and most popular competitions in the region, providing talent with wide exposure and the unique chance to learn from National Geographic photography experts through a once in a lifetime photography travel expedition.

Reflecting National Geographic and Almarai’s commitment to youth development, ‘Moments’ featured a returning category this year for photographers aged 13-17.

The competition is held in partnership with Almarai, who has been a strategic supporter of this platform for the last 6 years as part of a shared vision of nurturing youth and talent from the Middle East.

Held under the theme of ‘Souqs of the Middle East’, the 2019 ‘Moments’ edition captured the diversity and stories of markets from around the Arab world, which have been at the heart of the region’s culture and history. Each photograph carries with it an authentic, detailed and complete description of the story behind the image, which aims to add geographic, social and cultural context to the photo.

The ‘Moments’ competition proved increasingly popular with GCC photographers, who constituted 32% of all entries in this year’s edition, doubling last year’s entries which stood at 16%. UAE photographers showed the highest increase in submissions in the GCC with a 62% increase in submissions over last year, significantly driving entries to this year’s edition of the competition.

Shortlisted photographs are expected to be announced in the next few weeks following a selection by this year’s judging team, which features Hussam R Abdulqader, CMO of Almarai and Mohammad Muheisen, a two-time Pulitzer Prize-winner and National Geographic photographer.