HIPA Unveils the Winners of the Sixth Season ‘The Challenge’

His Highness Sheikh Ahmed bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum presents Award to Winners of HIPAâ€™s 6th Season â€˜The Challengeâ€™

HIPA Award Ceremony / Photo Â© Islamic Arts Magazine

His Highness Sheikh Ahmed bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum was in attendance as the Hamdan bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum International Photography Award (HIPA) held its annual awards ceremony for its sixth season of competition 'The Challenge' on March 15. A total of 24 winners were presented with accolades at the ceremony, which was held at the amazing Dubai Opera and attended by various dignitaries and photography industry mainstays.

The ceremony began with a speech by the Secretary General of HIPA, His Excellency Ali bin Thalith who thanked His Highness Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Crown Prince of Dubai, Chairman of the Executive Council and Patron of HIPA for his continued support of HIPA and the arts. Bin Thalith also revealed that HIPAâ€™s sixth season of competition saw the competition surpass a milestone of over a quarter of a million submissions since its inception and that the â€˜Portfolioâ€™ category for the sixth season saw over 33,950 submissions alone. Bin Thalith also announced that HIPA will be launching an initiative for the next season of competition that will be named â€˜For Youâ€™, under the directions of the Patron of HIPA, which will also coincide with the â€˜Year of Givingâ€™ in the United Arab Emirates.

HE Ali bin Thalith at the HIPA Award Ceremony / Photo Â© Islamic Arts Magazine

Awards by Categories

This season the photographs have been submitted to the four categories: 'General', 'Digital Manipulation', 'Portfolio' and the main theme 'The Challenge'.

HIPA Judges Alison Wright and Ken Geiger announce the categories / Photo Â© Islamic Arts Magazine

â€˜Genera (Black&White and Colour)'

HIPA Award Ceremony / Photo Â© Islamic Arts Magazine

His Excellency Saeed Al Nabouda, the acting Director General of Dubai Culture and Vice Chairman of the HIPA Board of Trustees presented the winners of the â€˜General â€“ Colourâ€™ category with their accolades with Italian Giuseppe Bonali taking the first place, Croat Petar Sabol winning the second place and German Daniel Reiter rounded off the winners with his third place win. The â€˜General â€“ Black and Whiteâ€™ category saw Indian photographer Apurba Mallick take the first place, German Tobias Binder winning the second place and Emirati photographer Khalil Al Mansoori taking home the third place prize.

HE Saeed Al Nabouda presents award to Khalil Al Mansoori, in the presence of HE Ali bin Thalith / Courtesy of HIPA

HE Saeed Al Nabouda presents award to Tobias Binder, in the presence of HE Ali bin Thalith / Courtesy of HIPA

HE Saeed Al Nabouda presents award to Daniel Reiter, in the presence of HE Ali bin Thalith / Courtesy of HIPA

HE Saeed Al Nabouda presents award to Giuseppe Bonali, in the presence of HE Ali bin Thalith / Courtesy of HIPA

HE Saeed Al Nabouda presents award to Petar Sabol, in the presence of HE Ali bin Thalith / Courtesy of HIPA

â€˜Portfolioâ€™

HIPA Award Ceremony / Photo Â© Islamic Arts Magazine

His Excellency Abdulrahman Al Owais, UAE Minister of Health and Chairman of the HIPA Board of Trustees presented the winners of the â€˜Portfolioâ€™ category with their accolades with Italian Giovanni Cedronella winning the first place, Frenchman Gilles Nicolet taking the second place, Polish photographer Rafal Makiela winning the third place, Slovenian Matajz Krivic and Chinese photographer Qiu Yan taking the fourth and fifth place awards respectively.

HE Abdulrahman Al Owais presents award to Giles Nicolet, in the presence of HE Ali bin Thalith / Courtesy of HIPA

HE Abdulrahman Al Owais presents award to Matjaz Krivic, in the presence of HE Ali bin Thalith / Courtesy of HIPA

HE Abdulrahman Al Owais presents award to Qiu Yan, in the presence of HE Ali bin Thalith / Courtesy of HIPA

â€˜Digital Manipulationâ€™

HIPA Award Ceremony / Photo Â© Islamic Arts Magazine

The â€˜Digital Manipulationâ€™ category winners meanwhile were presented with their awards by His Excellency Mohammed Al Murr, Chairman of the Board of the Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum Arabic Language Awards. First place in the category was awarded to Shahrzad Akrami from Iran, the second place to Russian Dmitrii Rogozhkin, the third place was presented to Yemeni photographer Saeed Ba Wazir, with fourth place going to Egyptian Lubna Abdulaziz and fifth place going to Turkish photographer Leyla Emektar.

HE Mohammed Al Murr presents award to Dimitri Rogozhkin, in the presence of HE Ali bin Thalith / Courtesy of HIPA

HE Mohammed Al Murr presents award to Leyla Emektar, in the presence of HE Ali bin Thalith / Courtesy of HIPA

HE Mohammed Al Murr presents award to Lubna Abdulaziz, in the presence of HE Ali bin Thalith / Courtesy of HIPA

HE Mohammed Al Murr presents award to Saeed Ba Wazir, in the presence of HE Ali bin Thalith / Courtesy of HIPA

'Special Awards'

His Highness Sheikh Ahmed bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum presented the â€˜Photography Appreciation Awardâ€™ to the son of veteran photographer Elliott Erwitt, who received the award on behalf of his father. The elder Erwitt, who is a former 3 term president of Magnum is also an acclaimed television producer and is well known for his photographs of 20th century icons such as Marilyn Munroe, Che Guevara and John F. Kennedy. To go with his varied photography career, he authored over 30 books and to date continues to actively work in various photography related projects and initiatives.

â€˜Photography Appreciation Awardâ€™ / Photo Â© Islamic Arts Magazine

HH Sheikh Ahmed bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum presents award to Misha Erwitt (On Behalf of Elliott Erwitt), in the presence of HE Ali bin Thalith / Courtesy of HIPA

The â€˜Photography Research/Reportâ€™ award was presented to the â€˜Bait Al Zubair Foundationâ€™ which started out as a private museum in Oman in 1998. The foundation was founded by His Excellency Mohammad Al Zubair, to enrich and encourage arts and photography amongst Omanâ€™s society. One of Bait Al Zubairâ€™s many great accomplishments is the diversity of the art and cultural publications it has published over the years. These include numerous stunning books dedicated to photography, which is at the heart of the foundationâ€™s vision. Overall, the foundation has published over 10 photography books, many of which concentrate on Omanâ€™s past whilst connecting it to the present day through stunning photography.

HH Sheikh Ahmed bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum presents â€˜Photography Research/Reportâ€™ award to HE Mohammad Al Zubair, in the presence of HE Ali bin Thalith / Courtesy of HIPA

â€˜The Challengeâ€™

His Highness Sheikh Ahmed bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum presented the winners of the sixth seasonâ€™s main theme â€˜The Challengeâ€™. First place in the category was presented to Italian Giulio Montini, with the second place prize going to Palestinian Adel El Masri. The third and fourth place prizes were both presented to Kuwaiti photographers Mohammad Khorshid and Mohammed Yousef respectively while the fifth place prize went to Russian Anton Unitsyn. The Grand Prize winner was American Arash Yaghmaeian with his â€˜Landfill Cinderellaâ€™ taking home the top prize.

Adel El Masri / Photo Â© Islamic Arts Magazine