JEDDAH, 28 August 2007 — Faisal Al-Malki, a Riyadh-based amateur photographer has won a prestigious international award. The award, for his photograph “1 of 12,” will be presented at the Lucie awards at the Lincoln Center in New York City on Oct. 15. The photograph will also be published in “Lucies 2007 Yearbook.”
“When I heard about the win, I could not quite believe it,” said Al-Malki. “It was simply too good to be true.” In an e-mail to friends he modestly said: “I had no idea I had this in me and it only grew because of all the support and interest each of you threw my way.”
His win was not his only triumph in the competition, widely seen in the world of still photography as the “Oscars” of the profession. He was given a huge 21 honorable mentions in the competition.
The ‘Lucies’ attracts entries from all over the world each year from some of the world’s best photographers. To win one is an acknowledgement of high standards and creative talent of exceptional order.
30-year-old Al-Malki has had no formal training in photography and he puts his skills at seeing the picture down largely to his career in advertising. “Handling advertising images, reading magazines and going online to learn has been the basis of my training,” he said. He spent the month of January this year in London where he reeled off over 6000 shots with a relatively modest amateur digital SLR camera.
His first success in the field of photography was when two of his photographs received “highly recommended” status in the London Photographic Association’s “Urban Landscape” exhibition and followed up by acceptance of five entries, including an honorable mention, in the Photographic Society of America — 2007 Exhibition Competition.
Currently, two of Al Malki’s four entries in the “Arabic Lenses” exhibition are on tour in the Kingdom. The exhibition arrives in Riyadh in November.
