Saudi woman wins a prize in the photography competition ‘Original Treasures of Arabia' Chithra Parameswaran Gopinathan Unni clicked a picture of an old Emirati man watching some TV program.Kraft Cream Cheese Original recently announced the winners of “Original Treasures of Arabia” – a photography campaign that was launched in the month of June for all GCC residents to celebrate Krafts long standing presence of over five decades in the region. The campaign, launched under the patronage of Saudi Arabia's Ministry of Culture and Information, invited participants to capture and share powerful images of the ever-changing face of the Gulf countries over time. The photographs were to depict the original treasures of the region and were to be accompanied by a short description of the image captured, according to participants. The entries were judged by the Kraft Foods MEA panel in addition to Lamia Al Rumaih, a judge from Saudi Arabia. Nusaiba Khalil E. Al Khan, a Saudi national photographer, was picked as one of the winners for the region-wide campaign. Her photo was captioned “Dates are the most important source of nutrition in the Arab region.” The winning pictures will be included in a photo book titled “The Original Treasures of Arabia”, which will be compiled by Al Rumaih. This photo book will be presented to the Kingdom's Ministry of Culture as a tribute to the region. Al Khan, overjoyed about her victory, said: “I am so delighted by being one of the winners of the “Kraft's Original Treasures of Arabia” campaign. I chose to focus on the most important nutrient in the Arab world as we have all grown up with this blessed fruit.” Kray Ray, marketing director of Kraft Foods MEA, said: “The campaign sought to encourage people to appreciate and engage with their cultural heritage. We are extremely pleased by the response we have received from this competition. We hope that through this competition more people have come to appreciate the culture, tradition and heritage of their own country.” “I was delighted to see the huge response with such wonderful pictures of various parts of the region with good photographic angles and acumen even from amateurs. This is a true homage from the residents of GCC to their beloved countries,” said Al Rumaih. The two other winners of the campaign were UAE residents — Mario Bejagan Cardenas, who captioned his photo “The Majestic Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque – one of the most important architectural treasures in Arabia” and Chithra Parameswaran Gopinathan Unni, who captioned her photo “An old Emirati man who was watching some program and she took the photo while observing his face.” The winners, each, received a professional camera and cash prizes to facilitate and pursue their careers in photography. The photo book, currently under creation, is expected to launch in October. — SG
