Bangladeshi photographer Pinu Rahman wins HIPA, world’s richest photography prize

Highlights

• Bangladeshi photographer Pinu Rahman won the grand prize at the Hamdan bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum International Photography Award (HIPA), described as the world’s richest photography competition.

• His winning image, “Under the Same Sky,” shows a family of five sleeping side by side inside the surviving concrete walls of their Dhaka home.

• The photograph documents resilience after a November 2025 fire destroyed about 1,500 dwellings in Bangladesh’s capital.

• HIPA’s 15th edition was themed “Family,” aligning with the UAE’s designation of 2026 as the Year of the Family.

• The award highlights how documentary photography can turn a private disaster into a widely shared story of endurance and human dignity.

Bangladeshi photographer Pinu Rahman has won the grand prize in the world’s richest photography competition, the Hamdan bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum International Photography Award (HIPA).

His winning photograph, titled “Under the Same Sky,” shows a family of five sleeping side by side within the surviving concrete walls of their home in Dhaka, Bangladesh.

The image was taken after a fire in November 2025 destroyed some 1,500 dwellings.

The photograph captures more than the immediate aftermath of disaster. It frames the family’s shared vulnerability, their reliance on one another and their determination to continue living amid the ruins of their neighborhood.

“[HIPA’s] fifteenth edition was themed ‘Family’, in line with the directives of His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, President of the UAE, to designate 2026 as the ‘Year of the Family’,” said Ali Bin Thalith, Secretary General of HIPA.

“This initiative aims to strengthen family bonds, support social stability and instil authentic Emirati values in future generations.”

With its depiction of family, resilience and the human capacity to endure, Rahman’s image resonated strongly with the HIPA jury.

The award gives international prominence to a scene that might otherwise remain a local tragedy. By focusing on a family sleeping together in the remains of their home, Rahman turns loss into a universal image of survival, solidarity and hope.

Powerful record

The award elevates a powerful record of disaster recovery, showing how photography can preserve human dignity and connect a local tragedy to global conversations about family, resilience and social stability.