Spring / Summer, GPU Magazine 2017

Global Photographic Union

MAGAZINE ISSUE 07 Spring/Summer 2017.

PHOTO WALKS

by Ola Allouz

QVO VADIS ?

by Volker Frenzel

YIXIAN EXHIBITION

by Guo Jing

SKOJEVKA MINKA

by Imrana Kapetanović

FORBBIDEN CITY

by Meisheng Zhou

TRAVEL PHOTOGRAPHY

by Abbas Kapadia FROM A YOUTH CORNER

by Matija Tošović

NEW CROWNS & TITLES

© Udayan Sankar Pal

© Feyzulah Tunc “Suru”

2 / GPU Magazine Spring/Summer 2017.

A word from the President..

Dear friends, Next October our photographic family is celebrating its 10th anniversary. It is undoubtedly a milestone, therefore we have decided to celebrate it with already existing but also new activities.

We will start with the 4th GPU Photo festival 2017 that is going to take place next July and it will be a tour in the Greek islands and Ephesus. Over 140 members and friends of GPU will be in Heraklion of Crete on the 15 July to participate in an 8 days trip., in a route which will give us the opportunity to know the magnificent islands of the Aegean Sea, and taste the world known Mediterranean cuisine. We will also have the chance to photograph the wonderful Greek blue, but most importantly we will be offered the opportunity to know each other better and tighten our bonds.

Coming next and in cooperation with our representatives, we will organize exhibitions by our members as well as workshops and lectures.

Next December our members will receive the new photo book along with the magazine of December. It is going to be the 3rd photo book that we are publishing, therefore don’t miss the participation in it. The GPU photo book is a collective album and it will be best to include photos from as many members as possible.

For charity purposes we have decided to make and donate perma-

z

Cover image by Indunil Munasinghe

nent exhibitions, printed and framed photos of our members to hospitals, and sensitive to public places.

We are scheduling a safari trip for the next November in Kenya. You will be informed about this trip via e-mail.

We have become our preparations in order to open a dependent GPU sector only for China and we are in constant communication with the persons in charge there.

For all the above and many more to come I would like to thank the members of the Governing Board and all those who give their best to the association out of love only and without any reward.

Mostly though I would like to thank all of you , who have been helping us with your confidence and love to make GPU grow even more and finally wish you a wonderful, full of health and fruitful summer!(winter for our friends in the southern hemisphere).

Metzakis Manolis

GPU ZEUS, GPU CR5, EFIAP/p, ESFIAP, PSA

President of GPU

Contents

Spring/ Summer 2017.

GPU MAGAZINE G l o b a l

P h o t o g r a p h i c

U n i o n

Executive editor & Graphic design

Marija Milovanović Maksimović GPU Secretary General

02

Travel photography

05

GPU Photo Festival 2017.

06

Qvo vadis?

08

Forbidden city

10

Photo walks

12

Instagram; Discovering the old & beautiful

by Abbas Kapadia

by Valker Frenzel

by Meisheng Zhou

by Ola Allouz

by Matija Tošović Co - Editor

Manolis Metzakis GPU President

Back cover “Earring”

by Ulukan Sefa

14

Skojevka Minka

17

Photography Exchange

18

Yixian Photography Exhibition

20

Meritorious service award

21

GPU Cowns & VIPs

22

GPU Titles

by Imrana Kapetanović

by Guo Jing

by Marija Milovanović Maksimović

www.gpuphoto.com GPU Magazine Spring/Summer 2017. / 1

Travel photography

Northern lights

text and all photos by

Abbas Kapadia

“Travel photography is no different than any other type of photography”. Good travel photography isn’t necessarily about the person or the place through a cameras viewfinder, but instead it is about how the subject existed in that specific moment in time. It doesn’t matter if you are in your own backyard or in Iceland or Leh-Ladakh. It simply comes down to a moment in time and how you chose to reveal it.

Pangong lake

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Grand Canyon

Caravan Monastery

E

quipment Check: Different subjects in a given location demand specific equipment. Be it the dancing Northern lights, steep fast moving waterfalls, or even elusive regional wildlife - you need to choose the right equipment for the job. A walk around lens is a must for travel photography and the mid-zooms come in handy here. A range between 24-70mm or 24-105mm is highly recommended. Tripods are essential and should be considered carefully; Heavy tripods, although stable, are often bulky and could hinder travel across rough terrain. Remembering the tradeoffs for carrying additional equipment is just as important, as it could result in decreased maneuverability.

Location Check: Preparation is critical to travel photog-

raphy. It can make or break a trip. Before leaving for your destination, check the weather forecast, sunrise, sunset, and even the lunar phase. Load a series of useful apps onto your phone that you can check quickly and easily while you are on the go. Additionally, it’s also important to check opening hours at your destination if applicable, such as museums, historical sites, nature parks or other touristic locations, as timings could change. Unforeseen circumstances often arise when travelling and it’s best to be prepared before starting your day – check roads, traffic, detours, holiday hours, renovation/construction sites, etc. Lastly, make sure you take any special circumstances into account. For example, traveling to Leh-Ladakh requires one to acclimatize to the high altitude, as it is situated 11,000 feet over sea level. Not being prepared could result in dizziness, headaches and even acute mountain sickness, resulting in an overall unpleasant experience.

Gullfloss Falls Iceland

GPU Magazine Spring/Summer 2017. / 3

Trekking Sun Glacier

Clothing Check:

Pack your clothes accordingly depending on destination and time of year. For example, Iceland in October benefited from thermal insulated layered clothing, with chemical hand warmers, and a hooded parka. In contrast, Leh-Ladakh in August required U.V. protected clothing and sunscreen. Each destination has its own unique set of requirements, which should be considered carefully and with attention to detail in order to most efficiently make use of the time on your trip.

Optimism is important in travel photography as we are often subjected to unpredictable scenarios. The control we can exercise is limited, especially when Mother Nature does not cooperate. But it’s important to remember that every cloud has a silver lining. Standing in front of the Grand Canyon, I was disappointed with the gloomy overcast weather conditions.

But patience prevailed and I was rewarded with a striking

cloudburst with diffused lighting revealing the beauty and grandeur of the Grand Canyon.

Travel photography is unique, in that it also influences you in a very personal and intimate way. It helps broaden your perspective and opens up new vistas. It helps you to understand and respect culture and traditions of the people and places you visit. I have been very fortunate to meet and interact with the locals, to learn a few of their ways, to taste and sample their wonderful food, and to capture the breathtaking landscape and life they live.

Saint Augustine’s most famous quote summarizes the essence of travel photography:

“The world is a book and those who do not travel read only one page”.

Abbas Kapadia Photography is his calling,

his unofficial profession and the obsession that leads him to travel the world.

Sedona Hot Air Balloon

Originally hailing from the busy metropolis that is Mumbai, Abbas made his way to Dubai shortly after he graduated. Although a pharmacist by profession, photography was always his true passion. His interest was rekindled shortly after

joining a local Shutterbugs Creative forum, Dubai in 2013. In the years that followed he was awarded several distinctions, including the, GPU Cr3, Hermes, LRPS, AFIAP, EPSA-BPSA, FICS and APSNJ.

4th GPU PHOTO FESTIVAL 2017.

GREEK ISLANDS (Santorini, Mykonos, Samos, Patmos, Rhodes) Athens ACROPOLIS - TURKEY EPHESUS - CRETE

The program will be as following:

July 15th: arrival in Heraklion (airport HER Nikos Kazantzakis) transfer to the hotel-dinner.

July 16th: Embarkation on the cruise boat for a cruise in Greek islands and Ephesus Kusadasi Turkey. First destination Santorini.

July 17th: Piraeus Acropolis or Lavrio in the morning, Mykonos in the afternoon.

July 18th: Samos or Kusadasi Turkey. Ephesus in the morning, Patmos in the afternoon.

July 19th: Rhodes July 20th: Disembarkment on Crete.

We will visit various places of the island.

July 21st: Crete July 22nd: Crete July 23rd: Departure

Oia

Mykonos

Patmos

Ephesus

Knossos

Santorini

Rhodes

GPU Magazine Spring/Summer 2017. / 5

Qvo vadis?

Everybody walks his way text and photos by Volker

Frenzel

Everyday we meet countless people, who pass by with a destination. Where they are heading to, is unknown. We can only guess. So, I show them on their way and let the observer draw his own conclusion. Where will they finally arrive?

Most of the people meet, but they do not take notice of each other. They are working on their mobile or looking in a different direction.

In some of the pictures we can find an association with the individual way of life of the person involved.

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A young couple starts their way being married.

The sentence “Jessi bleib bei mir ( Jessi, stay with me )” might be a signal for the discontinuation of a shared way.

The graffiti “Fuck” might be a sign of frustration with a personal situation.

There is a lot of hope in the picture, showing a young family. Although the father is sitting in a wheelchair, he and his wife lovingly care for their little child.

Finally we see people, whose way possibly led in the wrong direction; they are sitting around with nothing to do

I am trying to trigger the imagination of the observer, so that he or she can accompany the people in thought.

Going out to work on my project, I have some ideas in my mind. First I try to find a location, which might suit the story.

Then I spend some time to watch the scene. Is something going on there and are people around, who are willing to be photographed? Sometimes I take hundreds of pictures, before I am sure that I have captured another little part of my story. If I can take one good picture in an afternoon, I call it a successful shooting.

Volker Frenzel ELDAF, MFIAP, EFIAP,p, MDVF, GPU Hermes, GPU Cr 4

Born in 1951. Stepped into the photography world in the 80’ , as an airline pilot started with nature and landscape images. Today working in projects, “Qvo vadis” is his newest project. His work has been presented in 22 exhibitions and several publications.

GPU Magazine Spring/Summer 2017. / 7

The Moat

FORBIDDEN CITY text and photos by

A

rchitecture, often regarded as the symbol of human settlement. Its o rigin is earlier than any documented history. People tend to take it for granted that building or groups of buildings are nothing but shelters to dwell in. Yet the philosophers see it and reflect on it. Architecture is indeed another form of history. To photograph architecture is to read into the history behind the buildings.

Hall of Supreme Harmony

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Meisheng Zhou

Forbidden City in Beijing, one of the most splendid imperial palaces around the world, constructed from 1406 to 1420, consists of 980 buildings and covers 72 ha (180 acres) with a total number of 8707 rooms. It housed 24 emperors throughout the Qing and Ming Dynasty. Today, the site is most commonly known in Chinese as Gùgōng, which means the “Former Palace”. It used to be called “Forbidden City” in earlier

Northeast Corner Tower

time, and its Chinese equivalent “Zijin Cheng” is a name with significance on many levels. Zi, or ”Purple”, refers to the North Star, which in ancient China was called the Ziwei Star, and in traditional Chinese astrology was the heavenly abode of the Celestial Emperor. The surrounding celestial region, the Ziwei Enclosure, was the realm of the Celestial Emperor and his family. The Forbidden City, as the residence of the terrestrial emperor, was its earthly counterpart. Jin, or “Forbidden”, referred to the fact that no one could enter or leave the palace without the emperor’s permission. Cheng means a city.

I have carried on the project to photograph Forbidden City for 8 years, and it is not completed yet. The magnificent importance of Forbidden City can’t be conveyed through few images, for the imperial architecture are not only households of emperors as well as the ceremonial and political center of imperial Chinese government, but the culmination of the two-thousand-year development in its politics, economy, and culture in China. From a photographer’s perspective to analyze imperial architecture, proper photography skills and

frame from different angle is necessary to present its aesthetics and majesty as well as relevant human activity at that specific time. That is a photographer’s approach to interpret civilization.

Choosing Architecture as a subject for a photographer is like to converse with history and civilization. Photography is a straight forward reflection of history as each image shows the details of splendid Chinese civilization. A Photographer‘s perspective to Forbidden City is truly a special point of view to the history of architecture. When the linear thinking of a historian interacts with the visual angle of a photographer, history suddenly becomes alive.

With images to indicate my point of view regarding Forbidden City and words expressing my feelings, I have written 10 short essays for my personal documentary of the site in the past 8 years, and it is my most privileged honor to share 4 pieces of them as my sincere thoughts.

Three main halls

Golden Water Vat

Palaces in Forbidden City Chanchung Pallace

Meisheng is an expert of world heritage image, board member of China Photographers Association, judge of international and national photography exhibitions. He is also a scholastic photographer whose specialty lays on different genres of photography such as people and culture, geography, architecture, and landscape photography. In 2007, he was given an award by World Monuments Fund for his contribution to preserve the world heritages.

Meridian Gate in Spring

GPU Magazine Spring/Summer 2017. / 9

© Ola Allouz

© Ahmed Al Rais; @aalrais; #WWIM14

PHOTO WALKS

by Ola Allouz

Photo-walk is an activity that is shared amongst a group of camera enthusiasts. It is where those groups of people gather in a specific location and walk around exploring a certain area to communicate their feelings and interests through their lens. ``

M

y interest in this activity started in 2014, through (igers Dubai), who are a group of photographers who established this instagram account (@igersdubai) through which photo walks are organized and announced to those who are interested on social media platforms. I find it really fascinating to see that different people will find different interesting elements within the same place, those works of art are shown through their photographs and it shows how we can think differently and inspire one another and open up each other’s minds to corners or views that we might not see otherwise. It is also a great way to connect and meet new people from different nationalities and from all walks of life. Those relationships and conversations are priceless because this activity really enriched me in many ways.

© Ola Allouz

10 / GPU Magazine Spring/Summer 2017.

One of the exciting things that usually happen is to see people from other countries such as Bahrain, Saudi and Oman and neighboring cities joining those photo-walks, this is because they definitely realize that walking with like-minded artists while taking photographs and also meeting the city residents will deepen the experience and show them places within the city that they might have missed otherwise. The interaction with this group of people makes all the difference.

My interest grew tremendously in photo-walks and by the end of 2016 I started organizing my own. I also worked on improving the activity by offering new learning experiences to the participants, for e.g. one of the photo-walks was themed under “slow shutter photography” which is a technique learnt

© Ola Allouz

© Ola Allouz

and the participants ended the activity with a new understanding of the relation between the shutter and its effects.

Of course such experiences give me a boost to continue improving and offering new learning curves.

I also attended photo-walks that are organized in other countries, those where held in Bahrain and Egypt. It was a remarkable experience since I got the opportunity to meet photographers from other countries and I also got the opportunity to learn from them. I am looking forward to attending more photo-walks in different countries in the future.

I learnt that planning is the key to turning any photo-walk activity into tremendous success, therefore I improved my own skills at planning and I put a lot of time in planning and thought into how the experience can be further improved.

My most recent and close event will take place in the holy month of Ramadan, and I think this will be truly unique because the spirit of the month is second to none therefore I also decided to collaborate with (igers Dubai) to organize the very first exhibition to show photographs taken during the photo-walk at Dar Ibn Al Haytham for Visual Arts. The aim is to show this unique work of art and perhaps to try to communicate and show a glimpse of this spirit of the holy month through art pieces captured during the event.

© Ola Allouz

If I was to summarize some tips for running a successful photo-walk event those four points below are a must

•

A pre-planned route: choose a specific area and it should be scouted by the organizer ahead to make

•

sure that it is accessible, providing a map is a very good idea.

•

Specific date and time: decide on an agenda and announce days in advance to let people know about it. Promote the event on social media (mostly Instagram and Facebook)

•

Hashtag: create a specific hashtag and share it with the participants, ask them to include it in their posts of photos taken during the walk so that they are grouped nicely and so that everyone could reach them.

•

Group picture: It always a good idea to have a great group picture of the participants, I found it one of the best ways to document the event.

Expolore more on my Instagram account @olaaaly and the following hashtag: #olaallouz_photowalks. You can also find more about iger Dubai on their Instagram account: @igersdubai #2ndDecWalk

#LeisureLandWalk

#EPSCreekMeet

#ShjDays17

GPU Magazine Spring/Summer 2017. / 11

A VIEW FROM A YOUTH CORNER

INSTAGRAM Showcase yourself or your work, you choose...

T

he biggest photography exhibition in the world with an astonishing audience of 700 million, also known as Instagram, has changed the way we think of photography. It had provided me and many other young aspiring photographers a platform for expressing ourselves. Originally, the idea behind Instagram was to share photos of your hang outs with the friends, but developing further it has evolved to one of the most popular social media and a place for photo art. Not just for photographers, it became a platform important also for advertising any product, business or service.

As much as most of the traditional rules of photography aren’t necessary to be an Instagram photographer, there are many unwritten rules and tricks. I’ll share with you the ones I know, for a casual user. To offer photography or any other service, a bit different set of rules would apply, but a good photography is always involved.

Step 1. It’s really important for you to pick your style. Hipster, grunge, aesthetic... are just some of them. Of course you can change them if you get bored. I think my account falls in all of the previous categories. I’m not an Instagram celebrity so I don’t have thousands of followers but I’ve been using it for a long time now and I think my photos get a fair amount of attention. I only post pictures taken with my iPhone and my film camera.

Step 2. The best photo is always the one that doesn’t need editing, so don’t use Instagram filters ! The editing tools within the app are decent but I prefer using VSCO or Snapseed. I don’t like oversaturated and over-processed images, that’s why I enjoy iPhone’s image processing, the colors look natural and warm. I don’t edit my film camera photos.

Step 3. It’s not just about a single photo. You have to make sure all of your posts together make a visually interesting feed. That’s the first thing people will see when they look at your account. I try to make my feed look coherent and recognizable.

Step 4. Don’t post everything! People will get bored. The app introduced Instagram Stories where you can share all the moments of your day which disappear after 24 hours.

Step 5. If you like to post selfies, don’t overdo it and don’t use hashtags. Try to balance your subjects. Hashtags like #like4like and #follow4follow are just annoying. It’s okay to use them if you’re promoting something.

Step 6. If you care for likes and want to get more, don’t use hashtags and other apps for likes ! Just find the perfect time of the day to post your photos.

It’s different for everyone, my usual time is about 10 PM. Step 7 At the end of the day, just forget about all of the steps ! They don’t matter and the only thing that does is to have fun and express yourself!

Matija Tošović 19 year old, living and studying in Belgrade, Serbia, just graduated from high school. Applying to University of drama arts, section sound production. His love has always been music and journalism but beeing artistic soul, photography won his heart, too.

12 / GPU Magazine Spring/Summer 2017.

by Matija Tošović

© Matija Tošović, Double exposure, film Fuji C 200

DISCOVERING THE OLD & BEAUTIFUL

Four decades ago, engineer at Eastman Kodak invented the first functioning digital camera and despite it being a poor 0.01 megapixels, it announced a new age of digital photography and with it came a near death of film. Now, more and more, the film is coming back to life, winning over the new generations.

M

y dad bought a Nikon F60 back in ‘98. So I have a film camera that’s as old as me. We stopped using it almost as soon as digital point and shoot cameras came out. After about 10 years of collecting dust, I accidentally stumbled upon it while cleaning our basement. At first, I was intrigued, I wanted to see what it feels and looks like to operate such obsolete equipment and then it became exciting, turning slowly to passion. Since typical roll of film only has about 24 (36) exposures compared to the several thousand JPEGs you can store on a memory card or on a phone, the film is making you to use more methodical approach while choosing your subject or a frame, so you don’t end up with the absurd number of exposures (which can sometimes cause headache in dilemma which one to choose), yet with frames you thoughtfully chose to shoot.

The element of surprise is making the whole process even

© Matija Tošović, Long exposure, Kodak color plus

more special, while waiting with the thrill for the film and prints to be developed. I have started buying various types of film, to explore different possibilities. I love how each film gives you different color representation! I enjoy using Fuji C200, Fuji c400, Kodak Color Plus, Ilford pan 100.

I try to find expired films, they are cheaper and also - you never know what effects you can get because they change their characteristics after expiration date. I’m still on my learning curve and my camera is mostly automatic, but I’m planning to get a full manual film camera, just to get the most authentic experience possible. Pinhole photography with its imperfections and unpredictability is also a challenge for me, next to conquer, as a further step in film photography world.

With every new step I make into this world, I discover more and feel the urge for the joy of the new challenges.

© Matija Tošović, film Fuji C 200

© Matija Tošović, film Fuji C 200

GPU Magazine Spring/Summer 2017. / 13

SKOJEVKA* MINKA

by Imrana Kapetanović

An ordinary, yet special life story S

« kojevka Minka» is an intimate story about my grandmother. As a teenager she was a member of Young Communist League of Yugoslavia. Today, she still lives in her own world, surrounded by memories on that period and Tito, (the Yugoslav revolutionary and the statesman, gained international attention as the chief leader of the Non-Aligned Movement, between two hostile blocks in Cold War).

I am photographing her for nine years now. Minka, my grandmother, still remembers past times and talks a lot about them.

And that was my motivation, to take pictures, mostly when she is not looking, and to make short videos to record the stories.

Her stories are about very brave young people fighting the system and surviving the WWII in their own unique way. She also witnessed war in Bosnia from 1992-1995, but do not talk about it much. She lived through different systems, but most of it was during the Yugoslavia period. Yugoslavia was a country in Southeast Europe during most of the 20th century. It came * woman of SKOJ (League of Communist Youth of Yugoslavia)

14 / GPU Magazine Spring/Summer 2017.

into existence after WWI in 1918. The country was named after the South Slavic people. She is always remembering some good old times, especially during Tito. From her perspective, everything was bright and shiny and, the most important, we had the component that is missing today: solidarity.

My grandmother is not an ordinary grandmother: she used to play drums while she was young, to go to the mountains with her friends, and during the World War II she was a very brave young woman, confronting the German forces and local police. As an activist, after the War, she was working as a teacher for partisans who didn’t know to write and read. Today, she likes to travel, explore new places and laugh a lot. As a very positive spirit, she is an inspiration to me through the years and it was a great pleasure to work on this serial.

As I can see myself through her, this serial is, in a way, self-portrait. This selection for the exhibition I made for her 90th birthday, as a present.

GPU Magazine Spring/Summer 2017. / 15

Imrana Kapetanović Imrana is professional photographer from Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina. She is the owner of photo studio TNT and photography school, delivering workshops for young journalists and media professionals.

In last 10 years she participated and initiated many projects covering various subjects on discrimination in Bosnian society, as in many regional art projects, seminars and photography colonies and camps, also with constant engagement in humanitarian work, including position of volunteer photography teacher in Sarajevo’s Orphanage.

She held 11 solo exhibitions, participated in more than 160 group exhibitions and received several prestigious awards. Currently she is completing two separate MA programes tackling the question of photography as a way of communication through election posters and woman in work environment.

16 / GPU Magazine Spring/Summer 2017.

Group photo

Photo excursion

CHINESE - MOROCCAN PHOTOGRAPHY EXCHANGE On Jul.15 to 28, a total of 13 GPU members from China participated in Photography Exchange and Excursion of GPU Chinese Member in Morocco. This event is supported by Association Marocaine de l’Image, Global Photographic Union, and Shangtuf Image and Art Club. Guo Jing, GPU Board Member and GPU China representative, leads the Chinese delegates and Mustapha Meskines, GPU Morocco representative arranges the schedule and agenda for this event.

On Jul.15, “Charming China” Morocco-China Photography Art Exchange Exhibition opened at Mohammed V National Theater in Rabat, launching this photography exchange program. The exhibition consists of a 60 works created by Chinese and Moroccan photographers featuring on subjects related to China, such as eco environment, people and culture, to show the beauty of China through its ethnical group, landscape and social culture. Among the works exhibited, some are about natural scenery, while some portray folk tradition and life of its people; some choose to work on traditional theme, yet some are contemporary and conceptual.

The exhibition shows to people in Morocco about charm of China from all aspects.

The opening ceremony was hosted by Mustapha Meskine, GPU Morocco representative, Driss El Korri, President of Association Marocaine de l’Image, and Guo Jing, GPU China representative, both gave a speech. Chinese photographers give their photo book and prints as gift to Association

Lecture

Exhibition opening

Marocaine de l’Image, GPU, and Director of Mohammed V National Theater.

Afterwards, Chinese photographers spent 12 days exploring this country of vibrant color and mysteriousness.

The photo excursion is guided by GPU Morocco representative Mustapha Meskines, and accompanied by Driss El Korri, President of Association Marocaine de l’Image. During the excursion, Guo Jing, GPU board member, gave a lecture on “Open Vision”, and GPU member Weiguo Hu gave a lecture on Photoshop. Through this event, photographers from both country established deep friendship and get to know better about the photographic art of respective country. At the end of the excursion, Mustapha Meskines present his signature works to Chinese photographer as gift.

Visiting members on this tour are carefully selected according to the works submitted, among which many are awards winning photographers. The exhibited works and those produced during the excursion are evidence of high photographic skill of the Chinese photographers, which was well recognized by photographers in Morocco. SNRT AL OULA, national TV in Morocco also reported on this event.

Apart from that, it is confirmed that further collaboration of photography event will be carried on in the near future. An exhibition of “Morocco in eyes of Chinese Photographers” will be exhibited at photo festival in Morocco and at mean time tour to other country.

Photo excursion

GPU Magazine Spring/Summer 2017. / 17

© Saeed Al Shamsi

THE YIXIAN PHOTOGRAPHY FESTIVAL The great display of photography

by Guo Jing 2016 China Huangshan International Country Photography Festival and 11th Yixian Country Photography Festival opened on Nov.10 at Hongcun Village in Yixian. Hosted by Huangshan Municipal government, the festival features on following key words: “international, country, and life.”

The festival exhibits a total of 200 exhibitions of 5500 prints from more than 40 countries, namely, US, UK, Italy, Egypt, Greece, UAE, Saudi Arabia, Russia, Ukraine, Turkey, Cyprus, Argentina, Germany, Australia, Singapore, etc, and exhibited at two different venues in Yixian and Tunxi in Huangshan.

GPU Members exhibition was very well received by the viewers at the festival. Besides, Shangtuf Image and Art Club also recommended excellent solo exhibitions of GPU board members were also successfully exhibited at the festival, including “Colorful Land” by GPU President Manolis Metzakis, “Creative Phone Photography” by GPU Vice President John Law from UK, “Document of life” by GPU General Secretary Marija Milovanović Maksimović, “Peru” by GPU board member Saeed Al Shamsi from UAE, “Man and nature” by GPU Morocco representative Mustapha Meskine from Morocco. © John Law

18 / GPU Magazine Spring/Summer 2017.

“Creative Phone Photography” by Joh Law

“Document of life” by Marija M. Maksimović

“Маn & Nature” by Mustapha Meskine

“Peru” by Saeed Al Shamsi

© Marija Milovanović Maksimović

© Manolis Metzakis

“Colorful land” by Manolis Metzakis

GPU Magazine Spring/Summer 2017. / 19

MERITORIOUS SERVICE AWARD Honoring the laudables

by

Marija Milovanović Maksimović

GPU Secretary General

UPI (GPU) FOUNDERS:

This 2017. is the 10th year since GPU (UPI) has been founded.

In those ten years GPU has developed in to the great international association, joining members from all over the world.Current governing board has decided to acknowledge the people who founded the base of this organization and to show the appreciation for their role in starting this photographic journey, where people can search and find others based on same passion and interests in photography, offering support and education to each other, to present their work of art, receive feedback and recognition and finally, find true friends, for life, like many of us already did in our photo meetings and festivals.

On 25. March 2017, MERITORIOUS SERVICE AWARD ceremony was held in Amsterdam, where award plaques were handed to the founding members of GPU (UPI) and former gb members. President Manolis Metzakis opened the ceremony with a speech and paid tribute to all founding and former gb members. We also commemorated friends, who are no longer with us: Nicole Billiau and Sean Casey.

Not everyone from the list could be present, but with those who were we had a memorable time together.

Jansen Jan Sloot Rob Van der Heijdt Theo De oude Roel Groshart Gerrit Laheye Freddy Dianna Carlo Billiau Nicole Groeninge Frans Rokven Fred Versnel Joost Calosi Claudio Metzakis manolis Former GB MEMBERS: Sean Casey Nils-Erik Jerlemar Sloot Rob Nikiforakis Polihronis Reha Bilir

photos by Alexander You

Frans Van Groeninge

Roel De Oude

Theo Van der Heijdt

Freddy Laheye

20 / GPU Magazine Spring/Summer 2017.

From the left: Kristien de Cort Lindebrings, Saeed AlShamsi, Freddy Laheye, Manolis Metzakis, Frans Van groeninge, Daniel De Cort, Claudio Calosi, Roel De oude, Theo Van der Heijdt, Marija Milovanović Maksimović, Guo Jing.

GPU CROWNS

Crowns & VIP Officer Claudio Calosi by

GPU members who achieved crown distinctions in the last year CROWN 4

CROWN 2

Bernkopf Alois, Austria Bysack Subrata, India

Abdulkarim Khalid, Bahrain Avishek Das, India Basias Nikolaos, Greece Bell John , UK Bell Linda, UK Bose Abhijit, India Di Candia Lorenzo, Italy Guo Jing, China Hussain Alabdullatif, Saudi Arabia Khatri Sharifa, India Kikakis Nikos, Greece Lei Xi, China Li Guangjian, China Lindqvist Leena-Maija, Finland Marchand Alain, Belgium Perera Sanka Sammana, Sri Lanka Ruff Jerry-Louis, Germany Shi Cheng, China Sulais Sameera, Saudi Arabia Suman Adhikary, India Sutton Lee, UK Tait David, UK Temiz Sirzat, Turkey Ulukan Sefa, Turkey Yesiltas Bekir, Turkey Yuce Tugran, Turkey

CROWN 3 Sengupta Sanjoy, India Tse Kwok Kei Daniel, Hong Kong

CROWN 1 Al Naser Majdi, Saudi Arabia Aoubraim Said, Morocco Behr Michael, UK Bhattacharya Sanjoy, India Debono, Johann, Malta Guo Jing, China Hassan Ahmed Mohamed, Egypt Huo Tian, China Mandru Cantemir Aron, Romania Suman Adhikary, India Tait David, UK Tan Thiam Siong, Singapore Yu Aiqun, China

VERY IMPORTANT PHOTOS VIP 5 Cihan Karaca, Turkey

GPU Magazine Spring/Summer 2017. / 21

GPU TITLES APHRODITE

HERMES

Ahmed Ginawi, United Arab Emirates Chung John Yuk Kong , Singapore Kehali Rafik, Algeria Khatri Sharifa, India Marathe Suniel, India Merkoulidis Giorgos, Greece Munasinghe Indunil, Sri Lanka Nikolić Nenad, Serbia Perera Sanka Sammana, Sri Lanka Ruff Jerry-Louis, Germany Slavescu Flavian, Romania Ulukan Sefa, Turkey Vrzić Ljiljana, Serbia Yeşiltaş Bekir, Turkey

Abbas Kapadia, United Arab Emirates Muna Al Zaabi, United Arab Emirates Ola Allouz, United Arab Emirates Tsouellis Efstratios, Greece Ulukan Sefa, Turkey

by Titles

Officer Saeed Al Shamsi

ZEUS Joseph Tam, Australia

© Ahmed ginawi “Reveal White”

© Tsouellis Efstratios “West of a life”

© Munasinghe Indunil “Rope man”

© Suniel Marathe “Shraddha” © Yeşiltaş Bekir “Sevap”

22 / GPU Magazine Spring/Summer 2017.

© Abbas Kapadia “Alone”

© Nenad Nikolić, “Under the umbrella”

© Muna Al Zaabi, “Life in a mirror”

© Flavian Savescu, “Food for the soul”

© Rafik Kehali

© Merkoulidis Giorgos “Child look”

© Ulukan Sefa “Fisherman in blue”

GPU Magazine Spring/Summer 2017. / 23

P A N O R A M A

© Samal Karkuki / camera Canon 70D; 18-35 mm lens at 18mm, exposure 25 seconds

This panorama was made of 46 photographs in 220 degrees view. It was a clear night, without the clouds so it was possible to capture all the stars. This place is inherently deserted, completely quiet and special at night. I was surprised by the tranquility, even scared by it. In these deserted place it is almost impossible to capture any sign of life, that’s way I used as foreground the tomb and the dry tree to complement the starry sky. It would take about half an hour to finish this kind of shooting, but that night it took much longer, because the wolf approached me and I had to take a run to the car, to hide.

After I came back to complete the shooting, police patrol appeared, they wanted to check what I was doing, because it seemed strange to them to be here during the night. So, it was exciting night with interruptions of shooting, but I finished it sucesefully. All the shots were made in three vertical segments: the ground, the middle section and upper segment of the sky. The tripod and a lamp was used for camera focus. Post processing and completion of the image was done in Photoshop CC and it took 40 minutes to finish the process.

Samal Karkuki

© Aimin Li

© Ahmed Al Mahmood

24 / GPU Magazine Spring/Summer 2017.

© Sharifa Khatri “Peeping”

© Ola Allouz “Omani Boy called Ahmed”

© Chung John Yuk Kong “A misty morning”

GPU TITLES

© Joseph Tam, “Misty Tuscany”

Jerry Louis Ruff “Firefighters at the end of their power”

© Sanka Sammana Perera, “Well of death”

Ljiljana Vrzić “The old lady”

GPU Magazine Spring/Summer 2017. / 25