Emirates Photography Competition appoints jury members for its 7th edition

The jury president is Riccardo Busi of Italy, who is FIAP's President. His jury members are: FIAP Board Member David Tay of Singapore; Jill Sneesby of South Africa who serves as First Vice President of the Photographic Society of South Africa; the United Arab Emirate's (UAE) Saeed Al Shamsi, a noted local photographer who serves as an a juror for several international photographic competitions; Huda Saeed Saif, also from the UAE, who is a well-known artist, writer and contemporary art critic and EPC's own Director Badar Al Nomani.

EPC, which drew over 15,000 entries from 134 countries last year, aims to advance photographic art in the UAE, where Abu Dhabi is the largest of the country's seven emirates and home to its capital city.

EPC 2012's overarching theme is 'Cultural Reflections' and, for the first time, the competition will include a 'Fine Arts in Photography' accolade, which will see the award of three gold medals presented for the best works that represent innovative ideas contributing to the development of the photographic medium.

Other general themes include environment, portrait, sports, close-ups (macro) and 'Future Image Through Future Eyes' for photographers aged under 21. Additional special prizes include: the Emirati Talent Award; Emirati Photographer Award of 2012; Emirati Photo Award; Arab Photo Award; Best Photographer Award and a Photography Clubs Award.

The competition will also see the presentation of the Noor Ali Rashed Award - a special accolade which pays tribute to Noor Ali Rashed (1929 - 2010) who was a leading figure in photographic art in the UAE and whose work has contributed to the documentation of life within Emirati society.

EPC 2012 pays tribute to the work of celebrated Iraqi photographer Murad Al-Daghistani (1917-1982), who was a leader in contemporary Arab photography. Daghistani was a contemporary of a period that played a major role in the development of classic documentary photography yet his work bears creative characteristics and a modernist view of the world. From the mid 1930s until his death, Daghistani captured the cultural values of those around him reflecting the beginning of contemporary Arab photography.