By Farah Ahmed Al Marzooqi
ABU DHABI – On a hot sunny Friday afternoon, my cousin and I went to the Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque here in Abu Dhabi.
My instructor, Dr. David Bulla, asked my classmates and myself in storytelling I to visit this magnificent place and take pictures. He had us doing photography as a major class assignment. He said it would be better to have a person in the picture, but it was up to us. He wanted to emphasize the importance in photojournalism of telling stories, which usually require people in them to make the photo come alive.
This assignment was our major project in Media Storytelling I (COM 210), and we would present our photography in an exhibition called “A Grand Mosque” in the College of Arts and Creative Enterprises Gallery the last week of May and the first week of June. We had to take a quality photograph of the mosque, write a brief description, promote our work on social media and then show the photo at the exhibition just before spring semester ended.
I was really happy to visit the mosque back in March, although I had been there before when the weather was cold and at sunset. I took many photos of the stunning sunset. That was my first visit to the mosque.
However, this time it was a really hot and sunny day. I went earlier in the day, so the colors of the sunset were not in play. The fun part was that I wanted to include people in my pictures, so I decided to talk to people and ask for their permission.
It is always fun to talk to foreigners; I really enjoy it.
That day, as assigned, I took pictures of people – four men, two girls and an old woman. I had to choose one for the class assignment, so I choose a picture of a middle-aged Indian man. Unfortunately, I did not get his name, but I love the way he is looking at the mosque. I think that’s why I choose his picture for the gallery presentation.
On the day of the exhibition, I had my picture in a gold frame ready to be exhibited in the CACE Gallery.
Fortunately, my photo was chosen as one of the top photos in the two sections of 210 that Dr. Bulla teaches. First place went to Hamdah Musabbah Albreiki, whose photo looks like you are eyeing the mosque through a large keyhole. Second was a tie between Shamma Alkhoori and Hessa Al Haram. Third place also produced a tie, between Sara Saif Alali and Mashael Adel. Joining me on the honorable mention list were Fatima Zayed and Shamsa Saleh.
On May 28, Acting Provost Marilyn Roberts and Acting CCMS Dean Pamela Creedon presented our awards at a reception in the gallery. Also at the gallery was work from Mr. James Buie’s photojournalism class (COM 320). Eman Talal won the top prize in that class’s contest. Second place went to Kaltham Abdulraheem Al Ali and third to Shamma Alhameli.
This story was originally published on June 3, 2015. It was re-uploaded on Dec. 25, 2020. The photo that accompanied this story was lost due to the loss of the domain name.
