The Katara Photography Festival was brought to an end on Monday the 30th of October in a VIP closing ceremony chaired by Deputy General Manager, Cultural Village Foundation Katara, Eng. Ahmad A. Rahman Al Sayed.

The festival has been the first-of-its-kind celebration of art, reflecting Katara’s aim to amalgamate well-known artists as well as amateurs in the field of photography. The twelve day long festival successfully combined a series of workshops, an online competition, as well as an artistic display of some of the well-known photographer’s work. The 1st edition of the festival proved to be a great learning platform for students, amateurs and professionals alike.

Exhibition

Themed ‘Excitement’, the exhibition showcased beautiful images captured by some of the most famous photographers including Jordis Schloesser from Germany, Tony El Hage from Lebanon, Andrea Buenafe (a local resident originally from Philippines) and two Qatari brothers, Nasser and Hassan Al-Emadi. Their pictures captured moments from various parts of the world including Qatar. The exhibitors had a dedicated day wherein each one of them was present all day to engage with the visitors and talk to them at length about pictures they found interesting.

Online Competition

The online competition began on 1st October for the public to share their version of ‘Excitement’ in scenes captured in and around Doha city. The competition witnessed an overwhelming response with more than 400 entries, of which the top 30 winning images were displayed at the gallery. The 30 entries also included the top 3 winners of cash prizes.

Community Support

Through the online competition, the top 30 entries displayed were up for sale at QR 500 each. Katara decided to forward the proceeds from this sale to Qatar Charity to support a noble cause. The competition also brought together amateur photographers from various walks of life with a passion for photography. It turned out to be an ideal platform for communities to participate.

Educative Workshops

Education through workshops was an integral part of the Photography Festival, wherein the exhibiting photographers shared their knowledge and experience with lens enthusiasts. Jordis introduced participants to ‘Street photography’, Tony presented the ‘Art of Reportage’, Andrea discussed ‘Basics of digital photography’, while Hassan shared information on ‘Basics of Studio Lighting’

You can see images from the festival below.

From right, Markus Hofmeister of Avantgarde Communications, Mr. Hassan Al-Ansari, Festival Director, with 2 of 3 winners & the 3 winning images of Katara Photography Festival.