The Emirates Diving Association (EDA) held their Seventh Digital Online – Underwater Photography and Film Competition recently. The Awards and Exhibition night opening took place on the 27th of May, hosted for the second time around at the American University in Dubai, School of Architecture, Art and Design.
The exhibition continues to be open to the public in the Rotunda Gallery, Building A which will run from the 28th of May through the 6th of June. The gallery is open for viewing from 9:00 a.m to 5:00 p.m. on weekdays and 2:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m. on Fridays. Interested visitors are required to present identification at the University’s gate to gain entrance.
Digital Online’s main objectives are:
- To develop the human interaction within the underwater environment and highlight the beauty of its flora and fauna.
- To gather information on the number of underwater photographers in the UAE (both professional and amateur).
- To discover new promising underwater photographers in the UAE.
Digital Online was realised in 2009 by Marcelo Mariozi, a professional underwater photographer who had previously been involved in the organisation and set up of underwater photography competitions in his native country of Brazil. As there were no underwater photography competitions existing in the UAE at the time, Digital Online was introduced by EDA for resident photographers to develop a relationship and human interaction with those unfamiliar with the underwater world and environment. The film category was introduced as an extension to the competition in 2012 to share the underwater world through motion pictures.
The event; now in its seventh year, has seen a steady growth of underwater photography participation with the enthusiasm, and passion stepping up to another level. The event has attained equal successes in both the diving and non-diving community who came to support the participants at the Awards and Exhibition night.
A stellar roster of judges was present during last Wednesday’s event which included Warren Baverstock, Jonathan Ali Khan, Christophe Chellapermal and Nuno Sá; who are all renowned photographers and filmmakers. The awarding ceremony was highlighted by the announcing of Overall Digital Online DSLR and MILC winner Mohamed Abdulla who garned an astounding 1,897 points. Abdulla is also the lucky winner to take home the prestigious UAE National Photography Award. This win was followed up by Overall Digital Online Compact winner Juraj Roka who took miraculously beautiful shots using only a compact digital camera. Other winners that night include Simone Caprodossi for the Wide Angle category, Iyad Suleyman for Macro, Ahmed Obaid Alnaqbi and Sijmon de Wall for Divers for the Environment. Khaled Sultani took home the top spot for the Video Category with his video giving justice to this season’s “Below the Surface” theme.
A very special guest appearance was made by freelance Photojournalist, Andy Murch. Andy is the CEO and Expedition Leader at Big Fish Expeditions. Andy gave a short presentation showcasing some of his photography and shared the unique experiences behind them.
Andy’s love affair with sharks and rays began once he learned to dive in early 2000. The more he discovered, the more he felt the need to document these moments through photography. As Andy found a lack of information available on the species he encountered, his frustration drew him to creating the website Elasmodiver.com in 2002 where he could share his personal database of aquatic creatures that he had put together and show their locations and best places to dive with them. Today his database contains more than 10,000 images between the Ray Field Guide and the Shark Picture Database.
Andy then went on to become an accomplished and well respected writer and photographer within the diverse scuba press world. His shark photography has appeared in several prominent scuba diving magazines around the world as well as hundreds of book publications as well as appearing in various multimedia organizations such as the Discovery Channel and National Geographic.
Commenting on what has transpired during the awarding ceremony, Mr Essa al Ghurair, Chairman of the EDA remarks: “We celebrate Digital Online’s seventh year and it continues to impress and delight our senses! We cannot thank the American University in Dubai enough for hosting our event for the second year. It is a great venue to be in – amongst the university students. I want to thank our generous prize sponsors who make this a very inspiring competition to take part in. The collections of images and videos on exhibition and presented on the screens are a reminder of the precious underwater life we must protect if we want the future generations to see the same treasures that we are fortunate to see today. In addition to starting the awards this year, our special guest, Andy Murch with his showcase of underwater photography was a highlight for aspiring photographers in our midst.”
The event would not have been possible without the support of the following institutions: BFC Travel Management, Tourism Malaysia, Desert Islands Resort & Spa by Anantara and Al Mahara Diving Center, Zaya Retreats on Nurai Island and Nurai Dive Centre, Le Meridien Al Aqah Beach Resort and Spa, Millennium Resort Mussanah and SeaOman Dive Centre, Canon Middle East, Lua Lua Diving and Adventure, The Dive Centre, Nomad Ocean Adventures, Freestyle Divers, Al Boom Diving, Blue Planet Diving, MTM Marine LLC, Pavilion Dive Centre, Divers Down, Dive Rite and Blue Sea Diving.
