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The kingdom’s leading photographers will be staging a series of lectures and workshops at next week’s festival to attract youngsters and amateurs to the art of taking a great picture by focusing on lighting, composition and other elements.
The Bahrain Photographic Festival which will be opened this coming Monday on the second floor of Bahrain Financial Harbour’s Atrium Harbour Gate.
It is the brainchild of the Bahrain Photoclub and will feature several programmes in the hopes of attracting keen photographers of all ages, even those who haven’t got their own equipment yet and simply enjoy taking images with their smart phones.
“The aim is to expand the interest in creative photography throughout the kingdom, especially amongst youngsters,” a spokesman for the organisers said.
Throughout the 11-day festival, budding photographers will get the chance to attend workshops, lectures and tutorials by professionals sponsored by Ashrafs and The Nikon School.
Children will be encouraged to participate in the photographic fun by joining in workshops and entering competitions. For example, prizes will be awarded to the best mobile phone camera images. There are workshops for beginners as well as for professionals that want to learn different techniques.
Aside from training and themed workshops on lighting, sports photography and portraiture photography, there will be an opportunity for visitors to meet members of Bahrain Photoclub.
The club, which is a part of the Bahrain Arts Society, has been an active member of the International Federation of Photographic Arts (FIAP), an organisation that has united more than a million photographers in 85 global locations.
Bahrain Photoclub member Mohammed Bu Hassan brought pride to the kingdom in 2014 when he won first prize, beating photographers from 84 countries in FIAP’s 32nd Biennale competition held in Turkey. He will be telling his success story on Tuesday at 7pm.
The club received further high praise in 2016 for being listed in the Top 10 for images displayed by its members in Korea’s Biennale.
These award-winning images will be exhibited at the festival for people to admire. Another major attraction will be a display of 70 antique cameras which belong to one of the members. Some date back more than 100 years.
The closing ceremony on April 20 will include awarding prizes to all the competition winners, plus a charity auction of some of the photographs on display in support of the Bahrain Association for Parents and Friends of Disabled Children.
The festival is open daily from 11am to 8pm.
