Dubai: A picture of a sea of coloured powders cascading down on a crowd of people as they celebrate Holi, the Indian festival of colours, won Anurag Kumar the Hamdan Bin Mohammad Bin Rashid Al Maktoum International Photography Award (HIPA) grand prize and $120,000 (Dh440.000).
Winners were awarded on Monday by Shaikh Hamadan Bin Mohammad Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Crown Prince of Dubai, at a ceremony in Dubai.
More than 60,000 photographs from 166 countries were submitted for the fourth season of the Award, under the theme ‘Life in Colour,’ which wrapped up on Monday.
While Indian national Kumar won the HIPA grand prize. Aruna Bhat, also from India, walked away with the first place prize and $25,000 for his photograph of young monks at a Tibetan Buddhist monastery in the Indian Himalayas. UK national Harish Chavda won the first place prize and $15,000 in the General category. Peng-li, from China, win the first place in the Night Photography category, while Rudoi Vladimirovich, from Russia, topped the Faces category for his portrait of a young girl named Stella-Maria.
“Four years have passed since Shaikh Hamdan Bin Mohammad Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Crown Prince of Dubai launched HIPA as an initiative to actively support those dedicated artists and enthusiasts who choose life as their limitless canvas, and the lens as their colourful paintbrush through which they convey the true beauty and power of photography,” Ali Bin Thalith, Secretary-General of HIPA, said at the award ceremony. “This initiative aims to inspire creative minds to stimulate their innermost creativity in a way that tackles our thoughts and ignites our sentiments.”
Bin Thalith also announced the launch of the fifth season of the Award.
“We are delighted to announce that the theme of the award’s fifth season will revolve around the universal search for happiness,” he said.
