Canadian expo awards Iranian artists

The first edition of the George Barker International Exhibition of Photography in Canada has awarded several Iranian photographers.

The organizers announced that the jury presented the Best Author Award -- FIAP Light Blue Badge and the FIAP Gold Medal in the Open Color Section to Mehdi Zabolabbasi’s ‘Gulbahar’.

The photo depicts an Afghan woman clad in a burka passing through an alley with colorful buildings.

Zabolabbasi also won the FPC Trophy in the Open Monochrome Section for his photo ‘In the Evening Alone’, which shows an Afghan woman clad in a burka walking toward a mosque.

In addition, ‘Linchan’, his portrait of a coal mine, won an honorable mention in the Portrait Color category.

In the same category, Iranian photographer Amin Mahdavi was honored with the FIAP Gold Medal for ‘Cwtch, which depicts a nomad girl posing with a lamb.

Mohammad-Reza Pourian from Iran received the FPC Trophy in this section for his ‘Pride and Prejudice’ which shows a woman donning a mask common among women in south of Iran.

In the Open Monochrome Section, Maziar Amini-Alashti’s ‘Contrast’ and Amin Mahdavi’s ‘Bold’ won FIAP Ribbons.

Saeed Arabzadeh received the FPC Trophy for ‘Vakil Mosque’ and Mirali Parandak won the FIAP Ribbon for ‘Shoemaker’, both in the Open Color Section.

Asghar Sameti’s ‘A Symphony’, depicting news cars in a parking lot, brought him the FIAP Gold Medal in the Aerial Photography Color category.

The FPC Trophy in the Nature section went to Ali Saqafi’s ‘Trying to Generate Generation’ which shows two owls copulating.

In the Travel category, the FIAP Gold Medal was given to Mehdi Eshaqi-Qalibaf’s ‘Hanabandan Ceremony’, which is showing an ancient wedding rite in in Khorasan.

The winning photos and a selection of submissions will go on display in an exhibition on August 6 in London, a Canadian city in southwestern Ontario.

A jury comprised of Taraknath Dey from Canada, Aleksandar Sasic from Ireland and Djordje Vukicevic from Serbia decided the winners.

The contest was organized in the six categories under the patronage of the Federation Internationale de l’Art Photographique (FIAP) with contributions from the Photographic Society of America (PSA) and the Focus Photo Club (FPC), Iran’s branch of the FIAP.

MG/MG