Every month, Gulf News readers share their best photographs with the newspaper. We received several compelling entries during the month of July. Our Picture Editor K P Devadasan faced a hard time in selecting the best ones.
He said: “We received some good photo essays this month. The subjects were interesting and it seems like a detailed plan was made before the shoot. I commend the photographers’ patience. All the winning photographs had good use of technical aspects, such as shutter speed.” Here are the winners for the month of July.
FIRST PRIZE
Ramesh Menon
Published: July 5
Profile: Ramesh Menon is a 46-year-old Abu Dhabi resident who has a passion for photography and community journalism. He said: “Because of my keen interest for community journalism, I keep an eye on what’s happening around.” Menon has started a community photography club on Facebook. “I dedicate this win to all cancer patients and children with special needs,” he said.
Reason for winning:
Devadasan said: “The series of pictures shot by the reader showed moments and emotions at the zoo. They were good angles, used to capture the animals’ expressions.”
Mohammad Razeq
Published: July 27
Profile: Mohammad Razeq says he “loves to freeze a moment in time”. The 31-year-old has a passion for photography and his favourite forms are landscape, wildlife, portraits, macro and street photography.
Reason for winning:
Devadasan said: “The photograph was an interesting shot of the deer feeding the fawn. It was captured at a perfect and lovely moment.”
SECOND PRIZE
Lal Nallath
Published: July 13
Profile: Lal Nallath, a 43-year-old web designer, loves to focus his attention on photography. He said: “I am an artist but I got busy with work. I was always upset for not having enough time to paint. Then I realised that photography was a way to fulfill my quest to be an artist, but in a different way.”
He has been taking photographs since 2007 and started a photography club called Friday Shoot Out. The group currently has 150 members and over 1,000 Facebook followers. He said: “I love street photography. My idols are Steve McCurry and Joe Mcnally. I tend to connect with strangers easily. I love travelling and have visited several countries to take photographs.”
Reason for winning:
Devadasan said: “The reader showed life at the spice market. He brilliantly captured the mood and patience of the workers, vendors and shop owners who were seen waiting for customers.”
THIRD PRIZE
Abdul Kareem
Published: July 6
Profile: Abdul Kareem is an 18-year-old who works a 12-hour shift every day. What makes him unique is that he does chores in his free time and uses the money he earns to purchase accessories for his camera. He said: “The only thing I want is to show the world the things that people tend to ignore. I want to show how beautiful the world is through my lens.” His favourite form of photography is portraits. “There are some people who work long hours, such as construction workers. They’re working under the sun and suffer a lot. They need to be praised for their hard work and I do that through my photographs.”
Reason for winning:
Devadasan said: “The photograph had a great angle taken in front of the moving train. The slow shutter captured the speed and the Dubai World Trade Centre (DWTC) straight in front of the tracks. There was a good balance in the composition.”
