WINNERS OF HIPA 'THE MOMENT' 2017-18 - PART IV HIPA Winners of The Moment Category

Grand Prize Winner - Spring in Aleppo by Mohamed Alragheb, Syria

On what was supposed to be a beautiful spring day on the 15th of April 2017, an explosion rocked the Rashideen neighbourhood in Western Aleppo. The car bomb targeted a gathering of civilians that were part of an exchange scheme organised by various international organisations and regional powers. In the ensuing panic, many of the gathering photojournalists, there to cover the planned exchange, rushed to try and rescue survivors and get them to nearby ambulances. A photographer is seen, camera still in hand, carrying an injured child and running towards help. The horror in the man’s face perhaps symbolising the pain and anguish of an entire nation.

HIPA, Grand Prize Winner - Spring in Aleppo by Mohamed Alragheb, Syria

1st Place - Long Way From Home by K M Asad, Bangladesh

After four consecutive days of walking without food or water in extremely harsh conditions, a group of Rohingya women and their children make it into the Cox’s Bazar district of Bangladesh. It is estimated that in the last year alone, that over 700,000 Rohingya refugees have escaped violence in Myanmar; the majority of whom do so into neighbouring Bangladesh. K M Asad told us how he spent days and nights welcoming the refugees with some of his friends, and how he took a photo that shows a different generation of women with their children seeking refuge. Walking through the mud, in a way, symbolizes their current life situation. Many of Rohingya women stay in Bangladesh in a refugee camp provided by the Bangladesh government.

K M Asad / Photo © Islamic Arts Magazine

HIPA, The Moment category, 1st Place, Long Way From Home by K M Asad, Bangladesh / Courtesy of HIPA

2nd Place - An Ice Moment by Paul Nicklen, Canada

In the Ross Sea in Antarctica, an adult emperor penguin is returning to the ice edge for the first time after being at sea for days or even weeks. Despite the long and arduous journey, the penguin will have a belly fully of ice fish and krill for its awaiting chick.

HIPA, The Moment category, 2nd Place - An Ice Moment by Paul Nicklen, Canada / Courtesy of HIPA

3rd Place - Chaos of the Dunes by Maxim Korotchenko, Russia

Journalists running away from a ten-tonne MAZ rally truck at the 2016 edition of the ‘Gold of Kagan’ rally held in the Astrakhan region of Russia. Maxim Korotchenko explained that the truck driver could not see the journalists and photographers that were covering the rally, as he came from another side of the hill. When journalists realized that the truck was upon them, the panic spread and this moment, frozen in time, remains as evidence of how life is unpredictable. In a split second everything can change. One photographer was crushed by the truck and seriously injured as a result. He was taken to hospital by helicopter and went on to make a full recovery.

Maxim Korotchenko / Photo © Islamic Arts Magazine

HIPA, The Moment category, 3rd Place - Chaos of the Dunes by Maxim Korotchenko, Russia / Courtesy of HIPA

4th Place - The Gauchos’ Dog by Marcos Furer, Argentina

The ancient and traditional practice of ‘cattle branding’ is still being used to identify an animal’s owner in Argentina. Burning an identifying mark into the hide of an animal was, until the invention of the tattoo, the only method of marking that lasted the life of the animal. Argentinean cowboys (Gauchos) often use dogs to assist them in forcing the cattle to the area where the branding takes place.

HIPA, The Moment category, 4th Place - The Gauchos’ Dog by Marcos Furer, Argentina / Courtesy of HIPA

5th Place - Searching Under the Rubble by Rubo Wu, China

Rescue workers attempt to lift heavy debris at the site of a massive landslide in southwest China’s Guizhou Province. Tens of houses were destroyed in Yingping village as a result of the slide which occurred in the early evening and claimed the lives of six villagers. Rubo Wu shared with us his experience of that evening. His friend called him and told him what happen. He rushed to the site and at that moment he saw these workers, lit by the rescue light, working as a group to save the villagers that were trapped beneath the debris. This human strength, so evident in catastrophic events, was a moment when all villagers were as one. They gave all to save others. The photograph remains as a testimony to that extraordinary moment.

Rubo Wu / Photo © Islamic Arts Magazine

HIPA, The Moment category, 5th Place - Searching Under the Rubble by Rubo Wu, China / Courtesy of HIPA