Celebrating good food through the lens

Skyler Burt’s winning picture in Food from Farm category.By Anand HollaWhile rank amateurs to seasoned experts took a shot at the GCC Food Photography Awards 2015, the search for the region’s finest in the art of photographing food came to a glorious finish, last week.Based on the theme Celebrating Good Food, participants were invited to enter their original photographs depicting various forms, styles, preparations and occasions of food. “Our vision is to raise awareness on healthy eating habits, as well as traditional and organic farming, through photography,” the organisers said.Coinciding with the International Food Photography Day, Photo Award ME held the gala event in Bahrain. The photography competition leading up to GCC Food Photography Awards 2015 is part of Photo Award ME’s “mission to continue raising awareness” on “the importance of a healthy lifestyle through responsible food habits, evident in the rise in traditional and organic farming.”Qatar is among the six GCC states that the contest reached out to, along with Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, Oman, Kuwait and the UAE.Participants from GCC countries, judges and invited guests along with Chief Guest Andy Harris, MD and Editor of Jamie Magazine, enjoyed the evening that saw the crowning of GCC’s First Food Photographer of the year. The competition consisted of three categories – Food from the Farms (features food shots from their natural settings – the farmlands), Market Scenes (invites shots from the bustling environment of a local market), and Food Portraits (comprises a dish or a delicious spread of treats set up with or without the use of props and styling).Oman-based Skyler Burt bagged the overall title closely followed by runner-up Krishnakumar, also from Oman. Sushil S (Bahrain) won the Food Portrait category followed by Saji Anthony (Bahrain) for Market scene and Skyler Burt (Oman) for Food from Farm. Various social media winners were also awarded for their effort in taking part in and promoting the message “Celebrating Good Food.”Organised by Bahrain-based advertising agency MACADAM, in partnership with Creative Eye and The Butterfly Effect, the event was driven by an interesting competition that welcomed both locals and expats of the six countries to participate.Apart from being feted as the GCC Food Photographer of the Year 2015, the top prize winner also received a cash award of USD1,000 and sponsored gifts. The first place winner in each category received USD333 and gifts.As for the judges of the competition, each of them was an eminent name in the field of food and photography – food photographer Amelia Johnson, Lonely Planet photographer Phil Weymouth, Creative Director for FACT and Ohlala! magazines Paula Leal, and renowned chef and cookbook writer Aaron Maree. The judges assessed the entries based on three criteria – creativity, photographic quality and genuineness/authenticity of the content.“The contest is open for both professionals and amateurs and hopes to provide young and aspiring photographers a platform to get noticed, appreciated, and be known,” the organisers had said about the event, when the competition kicked off. Given the feedback to the event, the contest being a platform for cool talents to get exposure certainly seems to be true.