Dubai’s City Walk is bright with images taken by talented local amateur photographers.
They are the work of 30 contestants shortlisted in the inaugural edition of Urban Pixels, a competition hosted by Meraas, the developers of Dubai leisure destinations including City Walk, Boxpark and The Beach. Entrants had to post images taken in those three locations, in three categories.
The winning image in the main category was taken by Filipino architect Jonathan Onte. It depicts a young girl walking in a purple-lit area in Boxpark.
“I didn’t expect to win,” he says. “But I knew that the photograph was well composed, with beautiful lighting, complementing the structure of the building, and a human element bringing it all together.”
The runner-up was Filipino Alexander Arevalo, an interior designer. He had two images shortlisted, and took second prize with his picture of children writing on Boxpark’s communal blackboard.
Fifteen-year-old Sean Hutchings won the Smartphone category with a silhouette image of a bird at night. It was the Indian youngster’s first time entering a photography competition.
The award in the People’s Choice category went to Lebanese businessman Wassim Raslan, who took an image of the new City Walk extension, including its latticed roof.
“I was inspired by the fact that the place is a piece of art in itself,” he says.
Emirati Ahmed Al Rais, another of the shortlisted contestants, submitted a monochromatic picture of a workman walking against a tiled wall.
“A picture is only as good as its detail,” says Al Rais, who is a doctor. “For me, the simplest things are the purest and most beautiful — and every small detail adds to perfection.
“This particular scene has three different shades in the background: black represents the past, silver represents the present, and white represents the future. When the worker walked by, it was the perfect moment to capture, as he is the person who did this for us.”
Urban Pixels is hosted under the umbrella initiative of Dubai Art Season, in association with Dubai Culture & Arts Authority.
The judging panel included Sheikha Lateefa bint Maktoum, the artist director of Tashkeel; Tamsin Wildy, the studio manager at Tashkeel; and Mark Pilkington, a professor of photography at the American University of Sharjah.
• The exhibition is at City Walk in Dubai until Saturday, April 23
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