Royal Blue Dolphin 1988, Aqaba, Jordan

by Jenny George

Reproduced from in focus 28 (July 1988)

In May 1988 the Flemish Underwater Gommiscion F&F Nelos, in collaboration with the Hotel Club Aquamarina, Aqab:i, the Royal Jordanian Airlines and the Belgium tour operator Marine Adventures, organised an international underwater photographic competition, the Royal Blue Dolphin at Aqaba in Jordan at the northern tip of the Red Sea. In early 1988 invitations had been extended to many countries asking them to send a photographer to compete (all expenses paid). Countries could send a further two photographers if they were willing to pay for themselves. BSoUP chose KEVIN CULLIMORE as the UK representative with LINDA PITKIN and PETER SCOONES as the other UK competitors.

Twenty two competitors representing 16 countries arrived in Aqaba on 23rd May. They were mainly European but it was good to see competitors from Lebanon, Jordan and Egypt also, Most countries sent only one photographer but Belgium, as the UK, fielded three, who included two BSoUP members, Vic Verlinden and Jos Audenaerd. An international jury of seven people had been selected - underwater photographers David George (UK) and Dietmar Reimer (Germany); Jacques Blanpain, President f& fNelos; journalist Enrico Capelletti (Italy); Jorge Albuqerque, President AV Commission CMAS (Portugal); Arthur Palache, President U/W Film & Photo Commission (Netherlands) and Levoun Hagop, Photographer of the Jordan Royal Court.

Representatives of international diving magazines and film and video teams were invited, and Diver UK was represented by Brian Pitkin (Chairman BSoUP) and Underwater Photography magazine by David Nardini (BSoUP).

The contest was under the patronage of King Hussein of Jordan and it was hoped that he would present the awards. The competition was divided into sections and awards were to be given to the best Nature Photographer, the best Creative Photographer and the best All-Round Photographer. In each category gold, silver and bronze awards would be nominated. In addition an award was to be given to the best competitor from an Arab country.

The rules of the competition were issued beforehand and each competitor was allowed a buddy /model; Kevin was helped by Brian Humphreys who to our great disappointment did not appear in a pink wetsuit. Brian Pitkin helped Linda, and I assisted Peter Scoones when needed. The original intention was to issue competitors with 3 rolls of film (100 ASA 36 exposures) which was to be shot during a 3h period over three days.

On arrival the competitors were a little surprised to hear that the rules had been changed as the King was now coming Thursday evening not Friday to present the awards. Consequently the competition was telescoped into two days with dives scheduled for Tuesday morning, Tuesday afternoon and Wednesday morning, each being for a 2h period only, A tough assignment ........

Most of the competitors and accompanying personnel arrived in Aqaba on Monday morning and all competitors, press and jury were taken for a test dive (in two boats) in the afternoon. The dive was on a beautiful wreck, the San Bruno, renamed the Cedar Pride, which had been sunk deliberately in 1985. It lies on its side in about 20m of water, 150m from the shore. The wreck is colonized by colourful soft corals, sea fans and black corals and has abundant fish life. This was to be one of the competition sites and the photographers used this dive to set up possible shots and generally have a good look around.

Three sites had been chosen for the competition - the wreck, a site called the Aquarium and another called the Wall. Competitors were divided into three groups and each group was controlled by two of the judges. All diving was from the shore and each group was taken in minibuses to their allotted site for the 2h period. The Judges stuck firmly to the 2h period and competitors who exceeded this time in the water were penalized and time deducted from the next dive, or If the last dive a proportion of exposed frames were not allowed to be entered.

The wall site was most disappointing although the light was good when our group was there. Several competitors did not find the wall and the coral outcrops were poor, The Aquarium site proved more photogenic with its rich coral stands and abundant marine life. The wreck obviously was the place with the most photographic potential and it was not surprising that pictures taken here appeared in many of the submitted portfolios.

Unfortunately there was no processing at Aqaba and the two films exposed on Tuesday were sent to Amman for processing. These arrived back on Wednesday after the final competition dive. The film shot on Wednesday did not arrive back in Aqaba until mid-Thursday afternoon as the car carrying the films was involved in an accident on the busy Amman road. Competitors were asked to select five slides for the Nature section and five slides for the Creative section, and each set was to be Judged as a portfolio. So 10 photographs from 3 films - tall order after just 6h diving in two days!

Judging began at 16.00 on Thursday and the presentation of awards was to be at 20.00h that evening. We had already been informed that the king would be represented by Queen Noor. Slides were assessed by each judge for technical merit (10), composition (10), originality (10), giving a maximum of 30 points for each slide. The marks from the seven judges were then added up, and a discussion followed if two competitors were close in the final grading. Judging finished at about 20.00h, and then we heard that Queen Noor was not coming as a sandstorm at Amman had grounded all flights. However, the President of Royal Jordanian Airlines, Mr Ali Ghandour, was to present the awards and other 'eminents' such as a General, were to be present at the dinner.

At the dinner, countries were allocated tables, as were the jury and the press. After an aperitif and numerous hors d'oeuvres, the ceremony began. Speeches were given and then the winning portfolios were shown, David George had the unenviable task of presenting and commenting on the slides. The following titles were awarded :Best, Nature Photographer which gained a trophy, a dolphin, a gold watch from the King and a set of books on the Red Sea from Immel Press. This was awarded to Willem Kolvoort of the Netherlands. Best creative Photographer, which gained a trophy, a dolphin and watch. This went to Peter Scoones of the UK. The Best All-Round Photographer, which gained a trophy, dolphin and watch, went to Vincenzo Paolillo of Italy.

Second and third places in each category were awarded and Linda Pitkin, UK took third place in the Creative Section and was also awarded third place in the Best All-Round Photographer category.

Gold watches were presented to members of the jury and to the main organisers. After this ceremony, whole lambs with eyes intact - cooked - were carried in on large platters with sparklers stuck everywhere ... I almost turned into a vegetarian on the spot ... The serious eating and drinking began and the UK contingent had much to celebrate ... well done Peter and Linda.... At the end of the dinner Brian Pitkin gave an excellent speech on behalf of the Press, where he diplomatically made suggestions as to how the competition could be improved next time. He offered BSoUP'.s processing services and I expect that there will be no shortage of volunteers if the competition is staged again.

Friday was a free day - some went diving but many of us went to Petra, which is about 21/2hours drive from Aqaba. A fantastic ancient city - 'the rose-red city half the age of time'. built by the Nabataeans around 300 B.C. and surrounded by mountains. We entered on horseback through a narrow chasm, the sig, and then spent about 5 hours exploring In 40C heat. We had an excellent guide who showed us the many caves and their colourful ceilings, the Treasury Building with its pillars and carvings cut from sandstone and much more.... For me and many other this visit was a highlight of the trip - a photographic experience not to be missed! That evening all of the portfolios were shown and there were some excellent individual slides amongst the portfolios. Some of the judges had considered photos of the wreck as Nature portfolios - but no-one ever agrees with the judges except for the winners of course. It would have been good to have had an award for the best individual slide also, perhaps another year...

We left Aqaba on Saturday morning and arrived in Brussels that evening, where the UK group continued to celebrate in the fish restaurants and bars of old Brussels - we eventually arrived back at Gatwick on Sunday morning.

Diving on the whole, apart from two sites, is not as good in Aqaba as Eilat and Sharm el Sheikh, The reefs are becoming covered with phosphate dust from the loading activities in the busy port of Aqaba. A developing tourist industry and heavy industrial plant do not make compatible bedfellows and precautions when loading the phosphate onto the ships need to be taken if the underwater environment is to be preserved. Also all diving is run from the Dive Centres and you cannot take a car and dive anywhere, as you can in Eilat.

An interesting and enjoyable week - meeting so many different people, all with a similar passion - underwater photography .....

Results

Best All-Round Photographer Vincenzo Paolillo, Italy
Silver Award Marc Debatty, France
Bronze Award Linda Pitkin, UK

Best Nature Photographer Willem Kolv(;ort, Netherlands
Silver Award Rene Fritschi, Switzerland
Bronze Award Frederic De Miglio, France

Best Creative Photographer Peter Scoones, UK
Silver Award Vincenzo Paolillo, Italy
Bronze Award Linda Pitkin, UK

Best Competitor from an Arab Country Rouby Deuvleti,an, Egypt