Saudi Gazette report

JEDDAH — Art Jameel, an organization that supports heritage, education and the arts, on Wednesday announced the second Saudi edition of GPP Slidefest. The event, held in partnership with Gulf Photo Plus (GPP), the renowned center for photography based in Dubai, will present the work of five locally and regionally based photographers and will take place on Friday, Sept. 27 in Beydoun Space, Jeddah, beginning at 8.30 p.m.

GPP Slidefest, which aims to provide a platform for emerging photographers in the region to learn, collaborate and experiment, will present works by Saudi photographers Iman Al-Dabbagh and Abdulsalam Alamri; Kuwaiti photographers Huda Abdulmughni and Mohammed AlKouh; and GPP co-director, and Dubai-based Tanzanian photographer, Mohamed Somji.

The event is part of Photography Jameel’s annual program, the initiative was launched in 2017 to build on the momentum of the Art Jameel Photography Award (AJPA) which ran between 2010 and 2016. Photography Jameel focuses on year-round learning and community development with workshops, portfolio reviews, talks and more.

In addition to the GPP Slidefest event, Art Jameel and Gulf Photo Plus have partnered to present a portfolio review session on Sept. 28, also in Beydoun Space. The session will provide an opportunity to photographers and artists to meet with professional photographers and industry professionals for one-on-one sessions to share their work and receive feedback, advice, and exchange ideas.

Iman Al-Dabbagh and Mohammed AlKouh, a photojournalist and fine art photographer, respectively, will be providing feedback in both English and Arabic; and Lola Boatwright, managing director of Gulf Photo Plus and Mohamed Somji, photographer, director of Seeing Things & co-director of Gulf Photo Plus, will be providing feedback in English.

The portfolio review sessions will run from 1 p.m. to 2.30 p.m. and each session will last 15 minutes. Interested photographers can meet with as many industry professionals as they would like to, time permitting, and reviews will be scheduled on a first-come, first-serve basis.

GPP Slidefest is free to the public.