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ThreE Bahrain-based photographers have made the kingdom proud by winning top positions in the first edition of the Doha Photography Award 2025.
Artists Zakariya Al Omran, Isa Ebrahim and Ali Al Qamish were among 5,206 photographers from 101 countries who submitted more than 27,000 images from around the world.
Nature enthusiast Zakariya, who has a keen interest in documenting migratory birds, won first place in the Black and White category for his photograph A Mother’s Whisper.
The image captures the emotion of motherhood in the Socotra Cormorant, an endangered aquatic bird commonly spotted in the Arabian Gulf.
“The Hawar Islands in Bahrain host the largest colony of this species,” Zakariya told GulfWeekly.
“I always strive to capture emotion and feeling rather than simply document behaviour. This image reflects that signature approach – portraying not just a natural scene but a story of affection and life,” he added.
The creative talent from Barhama has plans to publish a book on Bahrain’s resident and migratory birds entitled Alwan min Al Qasab (Colours of the Quill), which will feature 270 species, with more than 400 photographs captured since 2013, across 420 pages.
“Through this work, I aim to celebrate Bahrain’s avian diversity and raise awareness about the importance of conservation,” he added.
Wanderlust Ali bagged second place in the Colour Photography category. Tbourida, his submission shot in Morocco, brought alive a visual dialogue between ‘the permanence of traces and the concept of disappearance’.
Tbourida is a Moroccan equestrian performance dating back to the 16th century.
“I wanted my photograph to explore the tension between chaos and harmony, movement and stillness, past and present,” noted the Hamad Town resident, who works at the Information Ministry as head of their media licensing section.
“I plan to travel to Vietnam at the end of this month, where I intend to document the lives of local communities and several indigenous tribes. I hope to develop a series of photographic projects from this journey and publish them,” he revealed.
Photojournalist Isa Ebrahim, who began his artistic journey documenting his school life on a Kodak film camera, earned second place in the Photo Story category.
The humanitarian piece entitled Maznoy Mia — A Man of Determination from Bangladesh offers a touching visual narrative portraying willpower and resilience.
“Participating in this competition was a great experience,” said the Sitra resident.
Isa is the founder of Bahrain Photographic Society and has worked for several Arab and international newspapers and magazines from 1999 to 2016.
“I truly believe that healthy competition pushes the boundaries of artistic expression,” he added.
The award ceremony was held in Doha, Qatar, as part of the Doha Photography Festival, under the patronage of Qatar Culture Minister Shaikh Abdulrahman bin Hamad Al Thani.
