Panasonic is backing OUR PLACE – The World’s Heritage, a project that will create the largest ever photographic collection of UNESCO World Heritage Sites.
World Heritage sites are selected for inclusion on the site list if they are judged by the World Heritage Committee to be of “outstanding universal value” and of immense importance to the World for their cultural and natural significance.
In the region, Panasonic Middle East has supported the UNESCO campaign by commissioning a Saudi-based professional photographer to capture stunning images of local sites.
Several GCC sites of outstanding cultural value and incredible natural beauty have been professionally photographed for public display in March, and possible submission for acceptance on the prestigious World Heritage List.
“The GCC states hold several of the world’s most unique and beautiful treasures, and we intend to photographically document them for the world with this campaign,” said Atsushi Hinoki, General Manager of Corporate Communications with Panasonic Marketing Middle East.
“No written words can ever tell the story of the GCC’s heritage as well as stunning professional photographs, taken with great care and respect to appropriately capture the spirit of the location and the subjects contained. We are proud to be making this campaign possible,” added Hinoki.
Internationally, a team of photographers will cover the sites from their physical and geographical aspects, as well as documenting the human presence and interaction that helps make them so important to mankind. An interactive website has been launched this year, www.ourplaceworld-heritage.com, and features background information relevant to the sites’ history and values.
The Panasonic supported project will eventually have an international team of 20 photographers, who will be photographing a large number of the 830 World Heritage Sites situated in 138 countries around the globe. The team will exclusively use the Panasonic Lumix range of digital cameras, including the newly launched Digital SLR, DMC-L1.
Mr. Yoshida, managing director of Digital Still Camera Business Unit in Matsushita Electric Industrial Co. Ltd, believes that this is an important opportunity for the company, “Panasonic is keen to contribute to photographic culture, and helping promote and protect the important UNESCO World Heritage sites through the Our Place Project makes this a project with which Panasonic is proud to be involved.”
“Through this project, we would like to change peoples’ minds, both about the value of World Heritage, and about Panasonic’s strong commitment to photographic culture. Our vision for LUMIX is to create a new photo culture in the digital era,” he added.
UNESCO’s World Heritage Centre has announced a partnership between UNESCO and Our Place Publishing, a New Zealand Publishing Company, which will manage the project.
“Under this new partnership, World Heritage sites, and the often extraordinary human stories linked to them, will become better known to all. Increased awareness, knowledge and appreciation will also lead to better protection for these remarkable places, many of which are extremely fragile,” says Francesco Bandarin, Director of the UNESCO World Heritage Centre.
Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd., (MEI) best known for its Panasonic brand, is a worldwide leader in the development and manufacture of electronics products for a wide range of consumer, business, and industrial needs. Based in Osaka, Japan, the company posted consolidated sales of US$81.44 billion for the fiscal year ended March 31, 2005. For more information, visit the Matsushita web site at http://www.panasonic.co.jp/global/top.html. Panasonic Gulf FZE (PGF) is MEI’s first subsidiary company in the Middle East, followed by Panasonic Marketing Middle East FZE (PMM), which is the regional marketing headquarters of MEI for operations in the Middle East and African countries.
