PHOTOGRAPHY The 7th Season Theme Announced at the HIPA Press Conference

His Excellency Ali bin Thalith said "we celebrated with you the winners of our sixth season of competition ‘The Challenge’, where history was made by some of the winning photographs on show. On behalf of myself and the HIPA Board of Trustees, I wish to thank all of our media partners for their continued support over the past year. Many of our major achievements and milestones are owed to you as our partners in spreading the art of photography to photographers from all walks of life all around the world.

Here at HIPA, we continue to work under the guidance and direction of His Highness Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Crown Prince of Dubai, Chairman of the Executive Council and Patron of HIPA toward promoting photographers and inspiring them to excel in their beloved art form."

His Excellency Ali bin Thalith, the General Secretary of HIPA / Photo © Islamic Arts Magazine

HIPA introduces a new category every season, giving a change to various photographers to apply. Bin Thalith explained that "the ‘Portfolio’ category which was introduced last season attracted some of the finest photographers and photographs that HIPA has ever seen. In fact, over 33,950 photographs, were submitted to this category, the majority of which were of a very high quality and standard."

The new category for the HIPA's 7th season will be 'Timelapse', which will be explained in details on HIPA website.

As 2017 is a year of giving in the UAE, Bin Thalith shared that HIPA is planning the ‘For You’ initiative, a humanitarian project for children. It will be the form of a box containing toys and games, a contribution from UAE children to the children around the world.

The new theme for the HIPA's seventh season of competition is ‘The Moment’. Henri Dalal explained that "it is the responsibility of every photographer how they are going to link their photograph to the main theme. It could be any magical moment that inspires."

Henri Dalal / Photo © Islamic Arts Magazine

The raw definition of photography is actually 'freezing the moment'. It will be interesting to see how photographers will be inspired to convey the true emotions behind the precious moment in time, that they managed to catch with their lenses.

Ali bin Thalith announced that in the 7th season the Grand Prize will be chosen as the best photograph from all categories. This is not meant to undermine the main category, but to give an equal chance to all photographers that enter the competition. He also mentioned that some photographers that enter the competition get to the last phase and then refuse to sign the copyrights to prove that they are the ones that took the photograph.

HIPA has specific rules and every photographer should be aware of them. Before submitting their photos to the competition photographers should take time and read carefully the conditions and rules of the competition, which can be found on the HIPA's website.