Sony Announces Launch of Sony FotoArabia Picathon Competition to Capture Your Nation’s Pride

Sony has today announced the launch of its ‘Sony FotoArabia Picathon 2015’ competition inviting photographers to document an aspect of their country and its people, creating a short story through their lens in order to capture the national pride of their chosen country. The competitition is open to residents in the UAE, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Oman, Bahrain, Lebanon, Egypt and Jordan. 

Running from 1 November, 2015 until 31 January, 2016, photographers have three months to complete their stories, consisting of up to 10 images that should give a glimpse into the country and its lifestyle in a visually consistent and compelling way. Entrants are invited to submit one story each, which will be assessed separately on its own aesthetic and technical merits. 

Free to enter, photographers will take photos and upload them to FotoArabia. Images submitted for the competition will be identified through the use of competition‐specific keywords, such as ‘SonyFotoArabiaPicathon’. During the competition process, FotoArabia will also conduct a hands‐on workshop to educate the local photography community in Qatar.

Mr Satoru Arai, Head, Sony Middle East Marketing Company commented: “What better way to capture and understand the different lifestyles and cultures of the region than through a camera lens. We’re looking for someone who has a strong and complete story that is told in an expressive and personal way based on their own experience. In collaboration with our exclusive distributor in Qatar, Darwish Holding, Sony is excited to be able to support such a creative competition.”

Three prizes will be awarded for each country that enters:

First prize – Sony α7R II, the world’s first back-illuminated 35mm full-frame CMOS image sensor with 42.4 megapixels takes image resolution, sensitivity (up to ISO 1024003) and speedy response to new heights

Second prize – Sony RX100 II,  a new 1-inch back-illuminated Exmor R® CMOS sensor combines with a bright F1.8 ZEISS® Vario-Sonnar® T* lens for beautiful, clean, low-noise images

Third prize – Sony DSC-QX30 featuring 30x optical zoom, Optical SteadyShot, and Lock-on AF