Sana Abdul Salam Saudi Gazette JEDDAH — The University of Business and Technology (UBT) held a photography exhibition on Monday at the campus of the College of Business Administration (CBA) in Dahban. About 130 photographs taken by 25 students were displayed at the exhibition. The participating students belonged to three different colleges under UBT: The College of Engineering and Information Technology (EIT), the CBA, and the College of Advertising. The exhibition was inaugurated by Prof. Hussain Al-Alawi, rector of the university. Al-Alawi gave a short introductory speech to the students, congratulating them on their efforts and encouraging them to futher develop their talent. Al-Alawi said that the students like Kuala Lumpur more than this country, as most of the photographs on display showed the scenic beauty of Kuala Lumpur. The exhibition was an initiative of the students, who had approached the supervisor of the Student Talent and Creativity Centre Meshal Hesham Alharasani with the idea. Various clubs like the Photography Club, the Volunteers Club and the Student Union Club work under the Student Talent and Creativity Centre, which coordinates with the Student Affairs Department to arrange extracurricular activities such as this photo exhibition. “The students here are from different majors and pursue photography as a hobby. In an earlier exhibition, we had about 80 photographs, and now we have 130. “So the students are progressively increasing their collection and taking pictures more professionally,” said Alharasani. Though the exhibition was not organized around one central theme, Alharasani said that the pictures reflected different cultures around the world. “Many of our students travel a lot and take interesting pictures in Malaysia, London, and Dubai. Some pictures depict elements of the Saudi culture and Islam, like the prophet's mosque, the Qur'an, prayer beads and so on,” said Alharasani. The students submitted soft copies of their photographs to the university, and the latter undertook the arrangements for printing them. “We fully support the students to pursue their interests and develop their talent,” said Loay Bakor Al-Tayar, dean of Student Affairs, adding, “This is why we have an agreement with Nikon to offer photography courses in the Sari campus of CBA. The students took evening classes with Nikon to gain mastery in the art of photography while attending their classes during the day. “Our future plans are to take these exhibitions to the international level,” said Al-Tayar. The university plans on participating in photography exhibitions around the world, particularly in the Middle East. Prof. Al-Alawi said that once the students are ready to participate in international exhibitions, the university will fully support them and take care of all the necessary arrangements. The photographs will be put on permanent display at the engineering building of the university.
