Winjnand Van Till captured what would become National Geographic’s 2010 top Landscape photo in The Netherlands edition.
An amateur photographer has captured the most telling image of Dubai to date, winning a National Geographic photo competition for his effort. We’ve seen this Emirate from the underground metro, holiday shots depict its scraper-spattered skyline, and many a curious streetwalker has tweaked their neck to see the tip of the Burj from the ground. But this latest image demonstrates to what extent Emaar Properties, the Burj Khalifa’s ambitious developers, reached for the clouds when they conceived the world’s tallest building.
Wijnand Van Till – a 34 year old Dutch Citizen currently working in Dubai’s telecommunications industry – explained to The National how the photo came about.
“It was just a lucky shot,” he told the paper. “It proves that you should always keep your camera close by.”
Lucky for him, Mr. Van Till’s happy snapping produced a timeless image chosen as the best out of a pool of 20,000 hopefuls. He traveled last Wednesday to the Royal Tropical Institute accept first place in the landscape category of the Netherlands edition of National Geographic.
Some people feel lucky when they win on slots: Even though the expatriate is not a professional photographer, Jochem Wijnands, a National Geographic photographer and one of the judges said that Mr. Van Till deserved to win because of his “go-getting attitude.”
“For us, this kind of image was spectacular, like something from another world,” Mr. Wijnands said.
Meanwhile, the image of Dubai peering through last April’s clouds has also gained mileage within the Emirates, receiving recognition for being the overall winner in the Canon Competition. In addition to organizing this competition, the Dubai-based photographers group Gulf Photo Plus is nourishing other promising photographers with workshops and exhibitions.
“Photography in the area is rapidly improving,” said Mohamed Somji, the organisation’s director. The group currently has 14,000 members.
Mr. Van Till won an all-expenses paid trip to Kenya, where he hopes to expand his photographic repertoire.
:: The National
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Author: Tafline Laylin
As a tour leader who led “eco-friendly” camping trips throughout North America, Tafline soon realized that she was instead leaving behind a trail of gas fumes, plastic bottles and Pringles. In fact, wherever she traveled – whether it was Viet Nam or South Africa or England – it became clear how inefficiently the mandate to re-think our consumer culture is reaching the general public. Born in Iran, raised in South Africa and the United States, she currently splits her time between Africa and the Middle East. Tafline can be reached at tafline (at) greenprophet (dot) com.
Bet he’s on Cloud Nine.