Mabati Rolling Mills (MRM), Nikon and other sponsors in the MRM Eye in the Wild Photography Competition recently celebrated the more than 850 photographers who submitted images and honoured this year’s top winners at a ceremony at Sarit Centre.
With the finalist photographs displayed in an exhibition, MRM recognized the high quality of images received in the inaugural edition of this competition. Eye in the Wild challenged photographers to show Kenya’s wildlife in their natural habitats in an effort to promote conservation, an issue that has long been close to MRM Chairman Dr. Manu Chandaria’s heart.
“It is our duty to make sure that conservation is number one,” Chandaria said at the awards ceremony.
This year’s winners, unveiled at the event, were selected by a panel of judges that examined both the quality of each photograph and the uniqueness of the moment captured. Gurcharan Roopra won the People’s Choice award, which was determined through a vote on social media. Roopra took home a prize of Kshs. 50,000 for his captivating image that caught a male lion in a unique pose.
Abdulrahman Mutuma, who won last year’s Best of Nikon Kenya Photography Competition, took home the bronze prize of Kshs. 100,000, with another stunning example of his macro photography.
Wildlife Photographer Paolo Torchio impressed the judges with his image of two cheetah cubs, expertly framed with their mother’s tail. His image earned him the silver prize of Kshs. 200,000.
Paras Chandaria, a leading voice for Friends of Nairobi National Park, took home the gold prize with an image capturing a leopard mid-leap. Upon winning the competition, Chandaria announced that he would donate his Kshs. 300,000 prize to efforts to preserve the park.
“Whatever MRM can do for Nairobi National Park will be appreciated,” Chandaria said at the event, speaking before he was announced as the winner. “Well done to all the photographers, there are some amazing shots here.
Nikon was one of the first sponsors to join the competition, despite the seeming differences between a company producing mabati sheets and one producing cameras, lenses and photography equipment.
“MRM is doing mabati sheets, we’re doing photography; we wondered, how is this going to merge?” said Sunny Sharma, Nikon East and Central Africa Business Development Manager. “But then they explained…and we were more than happy to take part.”
Nikon’s support for the event included prizes of Kshs. 50,000 vouchers to the Imaging Solutions Limited store at Thika Road Mall for the bronze, silver and gold winners. We were thrilled to support this exciting competition, which demonstrated the incredible capabilities of local photographers, captured the stunning beauty of Kenyan wildlife and promoted conservation of our natural heritage.
“You’re concerned with politics, you’re concerned with poverty, but you must be concerned with conservation,” Dr. Chandaria said. “These animals cannot speak and they cannot protest. How can we be a voice for these voiceless?…Each one of you is an ambassador of the voiceless. This can be done if we want it to be.”
All of the award winning images and honourable mentions can be found in the 2018 edition of MRM’s annual calendar.
Imaging Solutions Limited is the official distributor for Nikon in Kenya. You can view our selection of genuine Nikon products in our online shop or at our headquarters on the first floor of Thika Road Mall, where we also have a certified service centre for all of your repair and refurbishing needs.