Iranian photographer wins intl. contest
Mehdi Momenzadeh, Iranian photographer, received second prize at the The World at Night (TWAN) Second International Earth and Sky photo contest in the US.
In his awarded photo, 'Isfahan Milky Way', Momenzadeh illustrates how “light pollution” caused by urban life obscures the stars to shine through the sky.
Awarded second prize in the “Against Lights” category of the contest, Momenzadeh won $400 gift certificates from Dubai Telescope for his photo.
Open to anyone of any age around the world, the contest received about 240 entries poured in from 30 different countries, majorly from Iran, Germany, China and the United States, Mehr News Agency reported.
According to the contest theme, "Dark Skies Importance," judges selected 10 best images in two categories, “Beauty of the Night Sky" and "Against the Lights."
The most voted photos were then considered by the contest judge team for 5 winners in each category of the contest.
Babak Tafreshi the Iranian founder and director of the TWAN project, was among the jury members of the contest. He is an award winning night sky photographer, and board member of Astronomers Without Borders,
Highlighted in the TWAN website is, “The selected images are those most effective in impressing people on both how important and amazing the starry sky is and how it affects our lives, and also how bad the problem of light pollution has become."
The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) and the International Astronomical Union (IAU) have designated TWAN as a special project of the International Year of Astronomy 2009.
The project has been slated to create and exhibit a collection of photographs and videos of the world’s most beautiful and historic sites against a nighttime backdrop of stars, planets and celestial events.
Source: presstv.ir
