Until May 15th, Maghreb Photography Awards is holding it’s annual photography contest with a prize pool worth $2500 in cash. Images must be taken in one of Maghreb Countries or Islamic Regions in the categories of architecture, editorial, fine art, nature, people, documentary, or travel. The contest is open worldwide to all amateur and professional photographers over the age of 18. Winners will be announced on August 15th at the awards ceremony in Essaouira.
Maghreb Photography Awards is holding it’s annual photography contest with a prize pool worth $2500 in cash.
Three grand prizes will be awarded for the Best Photo Project from the Maghreb; Maghreb Photographer of the year, the Emerging Talent of the Year; and smaller prizes for the Maghreb, Picture Of The Year; and the Best Photo Project Outside Maghreb. In addition to cash prizes, all winners will receive extensive press coverage and publication of their work in a photo book.
Submissions will be reviewed by a panel of international experts which includes Stephane Kossman, the official photographer of the Cannes Festival since 1987 and the founder of International Photographic Festivals – Les nuits photographiques de Pierrevert and Les nuits photo d’Essaouira.
Two of the winners 2018 winners have strong ties with Morocco. Tarek Zaigouche won the Maghreb Photographer of The Year award and Venetia Menzies, fwon Best Photo Project From The Maghreb; Sandrine Rousseau, for Best Photo Project From The Maghreb 2017.
Zaigouche describes his Streets of Morocco series as being imposed on him. “During the last 3 years of my travels in Morocco, some images echo what has personally marked me in this country: a strong attachment to tradition and culture with at the same time a vigorous desire for modernity. These two forces, which often seem to be opposing in the majority Muslim countries, coexist in Morocco, and combine with a positive and radiant dynamic!”
Rousseau also pursued a series in the Sahara Desert. “I found many similarities between my first trek in the Sahara and those taken from La Pedrera, Gaudi’s building in Barcelona. In both places, graphics work, abstract, purified around lines, curves, and textures where it was difficult to differentiate the place of shooting. This gave rise to my first “Sand & Stone. The award-winning images are part of my second visit to the Sahara Desert. These graphics and ‘purified’ images also echo a stage in my life where the act of going to the essential is omnipresent.”