ABU DHABI — National Geographic Abu Dhabi (NGAD) and Almarai announced Sunday the kick off the 9th edition of ‘Moments’, the annual regional photography competition calling all aspiring photographers from around the Arab world.

‘Moments’ has established itself as one of the largest and most popular competitions in the region, providing talent with wide exposure and the unique chance to learn from National Geographic photography experts through a once in a lifetime photography travel expedition.

Held under the theme of ‘Souqs, the 2019 ‘Moments’ edition invites photographers from the region to capture the diversity and stories of markets from around the Arab world, which have been at the heart of the region’s culture and history.

The competition is held in partnership with Almarai, who has been a strategic supporter of this platform for the last 6 years as part of a shared vision of nurturing youth & talent from the Middle East.

Reflecting National Geographic and Almarai’s commitment to youth development, ‘Moments’ will feature a returning category this year for photographers aged 13-17.

Almarai, the GCC's leading dairy industry, has been a strategic partner of National Geographic Abu Dhabi’s Moments Competition since 2014 and for the sixth year in a row, with a shared vision and commitment to support Arab budding photographers, through offering them exposure and the possibility to be discovered on a platform that has seen over 200,000 accumulated participants.

Abdulrahman Awadh Al Harthi, Acting Executive Director of Television & Executive Director of Abu Dhabi Radio Network at Abu Dhabi Media, said: “The Moments Photography competition is part of our continued commitment towards nurturing talents across all segments of society and encouraging the community especially youth to express their creativity and reach their highest potential.

“The great success of the competition gives us a new challenge to ensure we reach a largest number of applicants from diverse backgrounds and give them the platform to express their creativity and stories to be shared across the region.”

Al Harthi concluding by commending National Geographic Abu Dhabi’s strive for leadership and influence towards professional and amateur photographers in the region.

Commenting on this year’s competition, Hussam R. Abdulqader, CMO of Almarai, said “ we are delighted to be renewing our partnership with National Geographic Abu Dhabi for the 9th edition of the Moments Photography Competition, through which we aim to inspire, encourage and celebrate youth across the Middle East and support them to achieve their highest potential through the art of photography.”

“We remain committed to developing the photography industry in the communities we serve, and to providing opportunities for youth to flourish creatively and professionally as we have done across a wide spectrum of platforms as well,” Abdulqader added.

Attracting over 200,000 entries since its inception from across the Middle East and North Africa, ‘Moments’ is part of a regional photography talent platform developed by National Geographic Abu Dhabi to promote and nurture local talents and help give them a voice and a platform to showcase the region what they’ve got.

This year’s judging committee will be comprised of Hussam R. Abdulqader, CMO of Almarai, as well as Muhammed Muheisen, a National Geographic photographer, two-time Pulitzer Prize-winner, and founder of Dutch non-profit organization Everyday Refugees Foundation.

In this year’s competition, each story will carry with it an authentic, detailed and complete description of the story behind the image, which aims to add geographic, social and cultural context to the photo. In addition, the integrity and ethics behind the photo will be of utmost value – keep up with National Geographic’s Global standards of ensuring images accurately represents cultures, ecosystems, and wildlife.

For more on the competition and previous year’s winner, please visit www.natgeo-moments.com. — SG