Beauty of nature through the lens

The Taif branch of the Saudi Arabian Society for Arts and Culture has announced the winners of a photography contest. The “Nature through a wide eye 2012” contest was organized for the second time and is considered the first of its kind in the Arab world.
During 37 days, the society received more than 1,300 works from 225 participants coming from 18 countries. Participants submitted their works through the competition’s website www.natureaward.net.
The competition consisted of two categories: Landscape and Nature.
Ahmed Abdul Azim from Egypt won the first place in the landscape category, and Jassim Al-Jassim from Saudi Arabia won the first place in nature. The winning works were announced by Ziad Kheder, secretary-general of the contest.
The society will start exhibiting the winning works from tomorrow in Taif.
The society’s main objective is to produce to the public elegant, cultural and artistic products from different countries, environments and photography experiences. It aims, among others, to promote cultural movement, create a spirit of competition among the participants, and exchange expertise between the photographers as well to display the works from all photographers that participated in this contest. The contest’s committee consisted of Saudi photographers who are specialized in nature photography and have a long experience in photography: Abdul Aziz Mushakhis, previous chairman of the photography committee in Jeddah; Abdulaziz Ayash, Saudi international photographer and winner of many local and international prizes; and Ali Shugair, previous chairman of the photography committee in Taif.