PHOTOGRAPHY HIPA Wraps Up Instagram Photo Contest With ‘Red’

The Hamdan bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum International Photography Award (HIPA) has announced a total of nine winners for the February edition of the monthly Instagram Photo Contest, titled ‘Red’. The February edition was also the final Instagram Photo Contest in HIPA’s sixth season of competition ‘The Challenge’. Re-launched in May 2016, the contest has seen a total of ten editions monthly with various themes for photographers to participate in.

For the February edition, HIPA received submissions under the hashtag #HIPAContest_Red, through the official HIPA Instagram account @HIPAae. The nine winners hail from; India, Indonesia, Oman, Sudan and Turkey. Winners will receive their respective ‘HIPA Recognition Awards’ in the coming days.

Commenting on the latest Instagram Photo Contest results, the Secretary General of HIPA, His Excellency Ali bin Thalith said, "The colour red is special to a lot of people; it provides added colour and vigour to the lives of many around the world. We are therefore very happy with the quality of submissions that have been submitted into the February edition of the Instagram Photo Contest because they reflect the true beauty of the colour red. The unique nature of the colour is also reflected in the stunning photographs that have been chosen as winners for this edition of the photo contest. The February edition will be the final one for the sixth season of competition, but we assure all our followers and photographers that it will be making a return at the near future."

Sudanese photographer and Instagram Photo Contest winner Ahmed Ginawi @ginawi said, "my winning photograph was taken during a Gulf Photo Plus workshop. The idea is to have the model against clear sky and then later composite the empty space." Ginawi, who is a previous HIPA Instagram Photo Contest winner added, "Funnily enough, my previous win was when the theme for the contest was ‘Green’. This will hopefully get me more exposure as a photographer." Ginawi concluded that, "my ambitions as a photographer is to be known amongst international professional photographers. For the moment though, I take photography as a serious hobby."

Another winner, Indonesian Fahrul Rozi @sibabphoto revealed that his photograph was, "taken in January this year at the main entrance of a shopping mall in the Indonesian city of Batam." Rozi, who is a first time winner in any form of photography competition, believes that, "my win will energize me further and increase my interest in street photography to hopefully take it to the next level." The Indonesia thanked HIPA for their efforts and hopes to take part in future editions of the Instagram Photo Contest.

The Winners

Ahmed Ginawi, Sudan

Abriawan, Indonesia

Hassan Mohammed Alghailani, Oman

Salim Nasser Al Obeidani, Oman

Akhmad Noor, Indonesia

Rajendra Mohan Pandey, India

Hendra Permana, Indonesia

Fahrul Rozi, Indonesia

Adil Emektar, Turkey

All images courtesy of HIPA