STEP AIUB Photography Contest 2019

Photography is one of the most popular forms of practiced art in Bangladesh. Photographers of the caliber of Manzoor Alam Beg, Shahidul Alam, or Golam Mostofa are talked about, applauded or awarded. They produce photographs that inspire us and touch our hearts through various rhymes or reasons. But there have surely been many other photographers too – those whose works have not received critical fame or plaudit. Perhaps their works were never exposed in the right manner or of the highest standard as set by these aforementioned legends. Yet, there remain a lot of other people – amateur photographers – who do possess a passion for photography but suffer from either a lack of systematic guidance, adequate exposure, or both.
Amateur photographers deserve some attention and exposure to showcase their talent. Thus, in December 2019, Step Footwear organized a photography contest for all the amateur photographers within the AIUB student body. The main objective of the contest was to expose their creative skills when challenged with the topic of creating meaningful content through product photography.

The Photography Contest was held in 3 rounds. On the first round, 100 students registered online and submitted their best photographs. The subject was kept open to them and from these submissions an expert panel shortlisted the top 30 photographers for the second Round, where they submitted 3 photographs in 3 categories.

Lifestyle, Fashion and Macro, featuring a given set of 3 pairs of shoes. From these photographs, the panel again shortlisted to the top 10 for the final round for which the participants were required to submit 3 photographs in 3 Categories – Lifestyle, Fashion Conceptual. These participants were then invited to Step Head Office to select products as per their choosing and get one on one guidance on product photography by Step’s Marketing experts.

Finally, the third-round winners of the Photography Contest were announced on the prize-giving ceremony held at AIUB Premises on December 11, 2019. 3 prizes were given to the best photographers in each of the 3 categories. Mohammad Nihal Nahyan was the winner of the conceptual category. For fashion category Sabbir Shikdar Orid became the winner. And Faiaz Ben Reza became the winner of lifestyle category. They are all from the Computer Science and Engineering department. Also, they are all members of AIUB Photography Club. All the winner received goodies, coupons and privilege membership of Step Footwear.
Congratulations to all the winners. The Event was attended by a special guest – Mr. Golam Mostofa, Ex-Director of BTV cinematography – who applauded the efforts of the young amateur photographers and provided them inspiration for future prosperity. Also present were Prof. Dr. Charles C. Villanueva, Vice President, Academics; Dean, Faculty of Business Administration, AIUB, Mr. Prasanna Andaraweera, COO, Step group of industries, Mr. Wahedur Rahman, General manager, Step Group of Industries, Mr. Zahid-Ul-Hasan, Manager, Business Development, Step Group of Industries and winners of the contest.
Prof. Dr. Charles C. Villanueva was very happy for the effort shown by his students and encouraged Step and the AIUB photography club to be more proactive and create such events in the future as well in order to stimulate growth and development.