National Geographic Abu Dhabi (NGAD) unveiled today the winning photographs of the 7th edition of ‘Moments’, its annual regional photography competition to nurture the talent of aspiring photographers from around the Arab world.  The unveiling, hosted at d3, in the presence of competition winners, NGAD, Al Marai, Nikon and leading and emerging UAE-based photographers, featured an exclusive large-scale showcase over 70 winning and finalist photographs in the competition’s three (3) categories, youth, adults and photo-documentary, selected from over 19,000 entries from across the Middle East and North Africa. 

A selection of winners and finalists were on hand at the unveiling and provided a first-person account of their work and the ‘story’ behind their photographs to the delight of the guests present. 

Held under the theme of Celebrations, the 2017 ‘Moments’ competition enabled photographers from the region to capture some of life’s most precious moments, both spontaneous moments such as a bride’s final touch up before her wedding, family moments, joyful moments and laughter to more formal moments featuring festivals and rituals of dance. 

The ‘Moments’ showcase exhibition, included 14 works from the Youth category, 20 from the Adults and 41 from the Photo documentary, will be open for public viewing at d3 every day until October 13 to provide the UAE’s art and photography enthusiasts the opportunity to experience a unique and intimate glimpse into the world of ‘everyday’ photographers from across the region. 

Abdulrahman Awadh Al Harthi, Acting Executive Director of Television & Executive Director of Abu Dhabi Radio Network at Abu Dhabi Media, said, “The continuity of this competition confirms Abu Dhabi Media’s commitment to encouraging creativity and participation within the community, particularly amongst the youth.

“The success of the seventh round of the contest, comes as a natural result of the previously successful competition, with an outstanding number of 19000 entries of quality photography  contributed to strengthening our efforts to nurture Arab talent, and to explore the creative potential of our society,” he added.

Al Harthi continued: “The ‘Moments’ competition has steadily become the most outstanding event for showcasing the technical skill and artistic prospects of the region. Competitions like this by National Geographic Abu Dhabi have an important creative role to play in supporting both amateur and professional photographers alike.”

“We wanted to recognize the winners and finalists in this year’s National Geographic Abu Dhabi’s ‘Moments’ competition, with a befitting celebration to be shared with the community at large.  We invite all and photography enthusiasts to discover these wonderful works of art from across the Arab world, each photograph with a unique story of celebration,” said Sanjay Raina, General Manager and Senior Vice-President of Fox Networks Group, which includes National Geographic Abu Dhabi.

“We are delighted to have expanded the competition this year with the valuable support of Almarai and Nikon, adding new categories of Photo Documentary and Youth, as well as invited the public to vote for their favorite in the People’s Choice Award,” Raina added.

The Grand Prix winners in the Single Image Category and Photo Documentary Category receive an 11-day all-expense-paid National Geographic photography Expedition Trip to Cuba, during which their skills are further developed guided by the best experts at National Geographic, in addition to $7,500 photography equipment courtesy of Nikon.  The winner of the Youth Category receives $2,000 photography equipment, courtesy of Nikon.

Commenting on this year’s winners, Hussam R. Abdulqader, EVP Corporate Marketing, Almarai, said, “Over the last four years, we have been impressed by the reach of this competition which enables thousands of youth and young adults from the Arab world to showcase their best photographs, and this year has been no exception.  We congratulate the winners and finalists of this year’s edition.”

Since 2014 and for the fourth year in a row, Almarai, the GCC's leading dairy industry, has been a strategic partner, with the same vision of supporting Arab talent year on year, through a platform that has seen over 180,000 accumulated participants.

Narendra Menon, Managing Director, Nikon Middle East FZE, commented: “The competition is a great platform for Nikon to support photographers. This year we were definitely impressed with the quality of submissions received, and it served as a great reassurance of the tremendous potential that Middle Eastern artists possess”.