“Syria through the Eyes of its Youth” photography competition sheds light on cultural and archaeological sites in Syria 

 “Syria through the Eyes of its Youth” competition, which was launched by “Moon Light” private company, was an opportunity for young people interested in the art of photography to display their works. The competition was of great value as it has displayed photos that highlighted Syria’s cultural and archaeological landmarks, its natural landscapes and its ancient heritage.

Director of “Moonlight” Company, which organized  the competition , Ola Zaidan told e-Syria ( Wattan Blog) that “the  competition aimed  to  support Syrian youths’ talents in the field of photography through carrying out training workshops in cooperation with experts in the art of photography “.

She added the photos participating in this year’s competition were distinguished by being more professional and artistic and by achieving greater spread in terms of the number of photos, as it started with 300 photos that underwent an artistic and technical sorting process.

According to Zaidan, the competition focused on investing young people’s talent in photographing Syria’s cultural landmarks, indicating that the topics of the photos varied between heritage, art, cooking, culture, antiquities, and the beauty of nature, which made us feel the richness of our country’s landscapes.

According to the artist Wassim Abdel Hamid, Director of Fine Arts at the Culture Ministry,  the ministry, through its participation in different cultural activities, seeks to provide support to young people, noting that about 90 works were selected to choose the winners.

Abdel Hamid called for employing the talent of the art of photography among young people to highlight the beauty of Syria, which was clear through the interaction of young people from all governorates.

The topics of the participating photos focused on tourist attractions, natural landscapes in Syria, handicrafts and tangible heritage, and others about the human side.

The young photographer, Omar Qabaqibi,  a computer engineering and automation student at the University of Damascus believed that shedding light on nature in our country is a very important topic because Syria is a treasure of civilization and nature, stressing the necessity of investing the talent of young people to photograph Syria’s cultural landmarks and tangible and intangible heritage.

In turn, Dr. Samer Mamish, a marine biologist, who is interested in photographing the old neighborhoods of Damascus, stressed “Today, young people can take pictures of ancient and beautiful areas and neighborhoods in Syria to introduce them, publish them, and market them in an attractive way through social media.

Rawaa Ghanam