The website containing an image bank of H H Sheikha Mozah bint Nasser Al Missned was officially launched yesterday. The royal website, www.hhopl.com, also contains images of the other members of the royal family; Sheikha Mozah’s official travels and her travels with the Emir H H Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani; and old and new images of Qatar, among others. More video materials as well as historical photos of the country have also been uploaded and can be viewed by the members of the website. The website, which took two years and three months to prepare, was specifically designed with the press in mind, and has five sections: News, Portraits, Archives, Illustration and Multimedia. The News section contains events Sheikha Mozah attended, her official trips with the Emir, and meetings with officials; the Portraits section contains close-up shots of Her Highness; the Archives section contains photos taken of Her Highness and events she attended since 2005; the Illustration section contains events happening in Qatar, places to visit, and old photos of the country, among others; and the Multimedia section contains videos of events where Sheikha Mozah was present. Each of the pictures contains descriptions, key words to make it easier for the user to search for them, and the dates when the photos were taken. “This image bank was put up to make it easier for the newspapers, magazines, other publications, the rest of the media, and other professionals to use high-resolution images of Her Highness, her official travels and travels with the Emir, photos of Qatar, mainly Doha, and some old images of the country,” said Maher Attar, Photo Library Manager at the Office of Sheikha Mozah, and her official photographer. Attar said they did a soft launch of the website around three months ago to test whether the site is user-friendly and check if they need to improve on certain areas of the page. He said the online photo library is also open to the public but mostly to a few select professionals who need the images. He said those who want to register will have to state a purpose for the photos’ usage. “We cannot just give access to anybody because they might download the pictures and use them indiscriminately, or steal them. They have to give a valid reason as to why they want to use the images,” Attar said. He said Her Highness’ Photo Library Office has been trying to encourage more photographers to take more images of Qatar, and has also been looking for old images of the country, to be uploaded on the website. The site’s homepage appeared showing a range of simple menus and tabs which it is hoped will make it easier for guests to navigate. http://thepeninsulaqatar.com/Display_news.asp?section=Local_News&subsection=Qatar+News&month=August2009&file=Local_News2009082423329.xml

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