PHOTOGRAPHY Chinese Ambassador to the UAE Visits HIPA Gallery

HE Chang Hua with Ms. Sahar Al Zarei admiring the wining photos / Courtesy of HIPA

The Hamdan bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum International Photography Award (HIPA) on Saturday hosted a Chinese delegation led by His Excellency Chang Hua, the People’s Republic of China’s ambassador to the United Arab Emirates. Mr Hua was given a tour of the HIPA gallery at the Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC) by the Assistant Secretary General of HIPA Ms. Sahar Al Zarei.

Mr Hua commented on HIPA’s positive influence in promoting photography on a global level and praised all efforts made by HIPA during last Monday’s awards ceremony which were also held at DIFC. His Excellency also praised the quality of the winning submissions during the fourth season of competition, which included two Chinese winners in the ‘Life in Colour’ and ‘General’ categories.

HE Chang Hua with Ms. Sahar Al Zarei at the HIPA exhibition of the winners / Courtesy of HIPA

HE Chang Hua with Ms. Sahar Al Zarei infront of the photographs by HH Hamdan bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum / Courtesy of HIPA

Sahar Al Zarei, Assistant Secretary General of HIPA thanked Mr Hua for his visit and reiterated the importance of Chinese participants in HIPA, stating that “there have been many winners from China in HIPA including the third season’s Grand prize winner Fuyang Zhou”. She added that “China remains an important photographic community for HIPA and we look forward to having more initiatives and partnerships which can possibly accelerate the growth of Chinese photographers.”

HE Chang Hua with Ms. Sahar Al Zarei / Courtesy of HIPA

Ms. Sahar Al Zarei presented HE Chang Hua with the book from the third season of HIPA / Courtesy of HIPA

The Hamdan bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum International Photography Award was was founded in 2011 under the patronage of H.H. Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, the Crown Prince of Dubai and recently concluded its fourth season of competition ‘Life in Colour’. With a grand prize of $120,000 USD and an overall prize pool of $400,000 USD the fifth season of HIPA is set to be themed ‘Happiness’ with ‘Wildlife’, ‘Father and Son’ and ‘General’ making up the rest of the categories.