DUBAI // A stunning picture of a cloud of colourful powder being thrown by thousands of people celebrating the Holi festival has won the Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed International Photography Award.
It was the first time Anurag Kumar, 29, from Mumbai, India, had entered the competition and on Monday night he walked away with the first prize of US$120,000 (Dh337,113).
“I can’t believe I even got through to the final,” he said.
Photographing the Hindu festival of colour proved to be a real challenge for Kumar, but his hard work paid off.
His winning picture was taken at Nandgaon in Uttar Pradesh in India, where tens of thousands of people had gathered to celebrate the festival.
“It wasn’t an easy picture to take because there were so many people there,” he said.
“But I was determined to get a good photo and I’m really happy it’s won because I never expected it.”
The awards celebrated their fourth year at an open-air ceremony at Dubai International Financial Centre with Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed, Crown Prince of Dubai, awarding the prizes.
Dubai resident Mujeeb Rahman, 32, from India, was a finalist in the Life in Colour category.
His photograph of worshippers at a Buddhist temple in Shimla in northern India impressed judges with its composition and detail.
“I’m so proud to be here at this event,” said Rahman, who has a job working in tourism for the Dubai Government. “I’m more of a travel photographer because with my job I’m fortunate enough to go to different countries.
“For me, the main thing I want to capture on camera is the experiences of everyday people in different parts of the world.”
He travelled to northern India with a group of friends as part of a photography holiday and the temple immediately caught his attention.
“We were in the area a number of days and I went there frequently and must have taken thousands of pictures,” he said.
“I’m so thrilled that the judges thought my photo was worthy of being included in this award ceremony.
“Photography is a real passion for me and I’ve been to numerous workshops and courses over the years to improve my skills.”
This year the awards attracted more than 30,000 entries from 166 countries, with judges having to sift through 60,000 photographs before the final ceremony.
Among the international finalists was Zecki Yavuzak from Turkey, who impressed judges with his photograph of a girl drying capsicums during a sunset, also in the Life in Colour section. He received third place in the category.
“It was taken in my home town of Aydin and it’s something you see many people doing,” he said.
“I just thought it was a wonderful scene so I decided to take a picture and enter the awards.
“I didn’t for a second think I would get to the finals in Dubai.”
The other category winners included Aruna Bhat, from India, who took home the Life in Colour award and $25,000.
Sebastião Salgado from Brazil was awarded the $20,000 Photography Appreciation Award.
Scott Kelby from the UK was given the $25,000 award for Photography Research/Report.
Peng Li from China won the Night Photography award.
British photographer Harish Chavda claimed the General category award, and Rudoi Vladimirovich from Russia won the Black and White category.
All three were awarded $15,000 each in prize money.
Ali Khalifa bin Thalith, secretary-general of the awards, said photography crossed borders and cultures.
“What we want to do is make Dubai a world-class location for creativity and the arts and the awards with their international focus allow us to do that,” he said.
nhanif@thenational.ae
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Name: Kumulus Water
Started: 2021
Founders: Iheb Triki and Mohamed Ali Abid
Based: Tunisia
Sector: Water technology
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Eldarir had arrived at JFK in January 2020 with three suitcases, containing goods he valued at $300, when he was directed to a search area.
Officers found 41 gold artefacts among the bags, including amulets from a funerary set which prepared the deceased for the afterlife.
Also found was a cartouche of a Ptolemaic king on a relief that was originally part of a royal building or temple.
The largest single group of items found in Eldarir’s cases were 400 shabtis, or figurines.
Khouli conviction
Khouli smuggled items into the US by making false declarations to customs about the country of origin and value of the items.
According to Immigration and Customs Enforcement, he provided “false provenances which stated that [two] Egyptian antiquities were part of a collection assembled by Khouli's father in Israel in the 1960s” when in fact “Khouli acquired the Egyptian antiquities from other dealers”.
He was sentenced to one year of probation, six months of home confinement and 200 hours of community service in 2012 after admitting buying and smuggling Egyptian antiquities, including coffins, funerary boats and limestone figures.
For sale
A number of other items said to come from the collection of Ezeldeen Taha Eldarir are currently or recently for sale.
Their provenance is described in near identical terms as the British Museum shabti: bought from Salahaddin Sirmali, "authenticated and appraised" by Hossen Rashed, then imported to the US in 1948.
- An Egyptian Mummy mask dating from 700BC-30BC, is on offer for £11,807 ($15,275) online by a seller in Mexico
- A coffin lid dating back to 664BC-332BC was offered for sale by a Colorado-based art dealer, with a starting price of $65,000
- A shabti that was on sale through a Chicago-based coin dealer, dating from 1567BC-1085BC, is up for $1,950
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Photographer: Mateusz Stefanowski at Art Factory
Videographer: Jear Valasquez
Fashion director: Sarah Maisey
Make-up: Gulum Erzincan at Art Factory
Model: Randa at Art Factory Videographer’s assistant: Zanong Magat
Photographer’s assistant: Sophia Shlykova
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In the village of Mevagissey in southwest England the housing stock has doubled in the last century while the number of residents is half the historic high. The village's Neighbourhood Development Plan states that 26% of homes are holiday retreats. Prices are high, averaging around £300,000, £50,000 more than the Cornish average of £250,000. The local average wage is £15,458.
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- Have an up-to-date, professional LinkedIn profile. If you don’t have a LinkedIn account, set one up today. Avoid poor-quality profile pictures with distracting backgrounds. Include a professional summary and begin to grow your network.
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Arda Atalay, head of Mena private sector at LinkedIn Talent Solutions, Rudy Bier, managing partner of Kinetic Business Solutions and Ben Kinerman Daltrey, co-founder of KinFitz
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