18th Annual Palo Alto Weekly Photo Contest
Third Place, Views Beyond the Peninsula
Adult

 

"Bedouin Girls"
By Margo Wixson

Artist's Statement

Click on photo for larger image.

Coming down from the steep climb to The Monastery in Petra on a hot summer day last August, I was surrounded by these cheerful Bedouin girls. They offered painted rocks for $1 in the merciful shade of a draped rest area. Using a cheap fisheye attachment for a Nikon 4300 digital camera, I framed their enthusiasm and ease in the rich desert climate of Nabatean culture. I spent August of 2008 traveling the Middle East on a Silicon Valley Education Foundation teacher's fellowship, photographing for a book I'm working on, titled "Picturing Middle East," that visually counters American stereotypes of these amazing world cultures.

Judge's Comment

"Bedouin Girls" by Margo Wixsom, taken in Jordan using a fisheye attachment on her camera, is a charming moment in which the subjects are just as curious as the photographer herself. The photo captured a sense of the girl's culture and humanity in an interesting format.

- Veronica Webber