Dubai: The Hamdan Bin Mohammad Bin Rashid Al Maktoum International Photography Award (HIPA) has become truly global in just five years, with its fifth season reaching photographers and enthusiasts from 193 countries and capturing life and wildlife’s best moments.
The competition, under the patronage of Shaikh Hamdan Bin Mohammad Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Crown Prince of Dubai and Chairman of the Executive Council, recognised works under the themes Happiness, Wildlife, Father and Son, and General.
The picture by Renuncio of young boys playing with old tyres in the field in a village in Togo in Africa that won first prize. HIPA
Shaikh Mansour Bin Mohammad Bin Rashid Al Maktoum presented the awards along with Minister of Health and Prevention Abdul Rahman Mohammad Al Owais, and Minister of State for Happiness, Ohoud Khalfan Al Roumi.
The picture by Francisco Rodriguez of erupting volcano Puerto Montt in Chile has won first prize in general category. HIPA
Ali Bin Thalith, secretary-general of HIPA, said the competition’s reach has grown over the last five years, with this year getting submissions from 173 countries.
“The HIPA team has worked very hard all year round to spread the vision of Dubai and His Highness Shaikh Hamdan Bin Mohammad Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, the Patron of HIPA, to the highest possible number of photography lovers and aficionados around the world,” Bin Thalith said.
“This is evident by the fact that 66 per cent of the photographers who took part in this season were participating in the competition for the very first time,” he added.
Some 32,712 photographers from 173 countries worldwide submitted a total of 80,420 photographs for this season, up from more than 60,000 photographs from 166 countries last season.
Antonio Aragon Renuncio, a Spanish photographer, bagged this year’s HIPA Grand Prize of $120,000 (Dh440,000) for a moment he captured by surprise of young boys playing with old tyres in the field in a village in Togo in Africa.
“I am used to taking pictures of dead people, ill people in the hospital. So one day, I decided to take a breather and went out of the hospital. I saw these young boys happily playing. It’s amazing because it’s a different emotion from my usual subjects,” Renuncio told Gulf News after the event.
This picture taken by American Steven Winter has won the first prize in wildlife category. HIPA
Hamid Hussain Al Makhlooq’s black and white photo of two old men who have long been friends won him the first prize for the Happiness category with a prize money of $25,000.
Al Makhlooq’s subjects on the picture were smiling on camera but the winning shot was that of the other man kissing his friend on the cheek. The suprised look on the friend’s face was priceless.
“It’s hard to take pictures of candid, happy moments. It’s hard to see two old men who are friends who would do that on the street,” Al Makhlooq, a professional photographer from Bahrain, told Gulf News.
“All my pictures are from Bahrain. I don’t have to travel to get good pictures. You can take impressive photos in your country. There are lots of subjects; you just have to find them,” he added.
This picture taken by Palestinian Khalid Al Sabbah has won the first prize in father and son category. HIPA
Palestinian photojournalist Khalid Al Sabbah’s photo of a father and his uncle carrying dead bodies of his two sons, aged seven and five, got the first prize for the Father and Son category.
The picture showed the last moments a father shared with his dead sons due to a fire when their house was razed by Occupation soldiers.
Two special photography awards were also given to photographers who have contributed a lot to the field and have raised the bar of the art form at its highest.
Egypt-born Canadian photographer, Oscar Mitri, received the Photography Appreciation Award for his longstanding commitment to enhancing the art of photography over his illustrious and memorable career.
Don McCullin, Britain’s greatest living war photographer, bagged the ‘Photography Research/Report’ for his service to photography through the many acclaimed books he has authored in his more than 50-year career in photography.
The winning photographs are being exhibited at Burj Park. The overall prize pool of $400,000 (Dh1.47 million) was given away for the five categories.
CATEGORIES AND WINNERS:
HIPA Grand Prize Award: Antonio Aragon Renuncio, Spain
Happiness:
- 1st: Hamid Hussain Al Makhlooq, Bahrain
- 2nd: Brent Stirton, South Africa
- 3rd: Sergey Ponomarev, Russia
- 4th: Ohmar Ahmad, UAE
- 5th: Manar Gad, Egypt
Wildlife:
- 1st: Steve Winter, US
- 2nd: Lynn Emery, UK
- 3rd: MinMing Lin, China
- 4th: Min Ouyang, China
- 5th: Fabian Berg, Germany
Father and Son:
- 1st: Khalid Al Sabbah, Palestine
- 2nd: Musa Talasli, Turkey
- 3rd: Mihailo Simovic, Serbia
- 4th: Johannes Janssen, The Netherlands
- 5th: Saber Nouraldin, Palestine
General:
- 1st: Francisco Rodriquez, Chile
- 2nd: Sandra Hoyn, Germany
- 3rd: Vladimir Viatkin, Russia
- 4th: Zhiqiang Zhang, China
- 5th: Fausto Podavini, Italy
