The first edition of the Photography Festival officially opened at Katara – the Cultural Village on Wednesday, showcasing the works of some renowned photographers from Qatar, Germany, France and the Philippines.
Visitors get a chance to see exemplary work by Jordis Schloesser (Germany) from her trips around the world, Andrea Buenafe’s (Philippines) perspective of Doha, Tony Hage’s (France) innovative work, and pieces by Qatari brothers, Nasser and Hassan al-Emadi, in Building 19.
The photographs display the unique style and creativity of each artist.
According to Katara, the 12-day festival is a celebration of communities, photographers and art, which will last for 12 days until October 30 from 10am to 10pm.
The festival started with an online competition from early October and witnessed an overwhelming response from the public.
After the competition ends on October 20, the winning entries will be displayed in a gallery for visitors to see, a platform for potential photographers to showcase their skills.
In a statement, Katara general manager Dr Khalid bin Ibrahim al-Sulaiti said Katara is a valley of cultures and an authentic platform that displays culture and art in one comprehensive hub.
“Stressing the fact that this first edition of the festival is one of the prominent events, we eagerly hope amateur and professional photographers consider it as an essential station in building their career path,” he noted.
“The artists in our first edition will showcase their skills through the images displayed here. Through the launch of this festival, we seek to enhance the co-operation and knowledge-exchange among the distinctive community of photographers.”
In hosting the festival, the senior Katara official said the Cultural Village is encouraged and inspired to provide a suitable platform for amateur photographers by organising informative workshops.
“Such activities are expected to help enhance and refine their skills and showcase their talented abilities,” he added.
“In addition, another ‘matching-ambience’ is set for the professional photographers to meet up with the audiences with an aim to examine their impressions and opinions closely,” Dr al-Sulaiti said.
He stressed that Katara is committed to making this festival an engaging one with an exciting line up of programmes.
Apart from the exhibition, the renowned photographers will also be seen conducting workshops for photography enthusiasts on weekends throughout the duration of the festival. These workshops will be based on some of the key elements in the field of photography, and will address topics such as ‘An introduction to street photography’, ‘Art of reportage photography’, ‘Basics of digital photography’ and ‘Basics of studio lighting’.
Each session will be held twice, a total of eight, to accommodate 160 participants.
