PHOTOGRAPHY Winners of HIPA’s Seventh Season ‘The Moment’ Revealed

Under the patronage of His Highness Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Crown Prince of Dubai and Chairman of the Executive Council, the Hamdan bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum International Photography Award (HIPA) held its annual awards ceremony for its seventh season of competition ‘The Moment’. A total of 22 winners as well as 3 special prize recipients were presented with accolades at the ceremony, which was held at Dubai Opera and attended by various dignitaries and many members of the photographic community. Once again HIPA proved to be the most prestigious photography award in the world.

HIPA Grand Ceremony, 7th edition 'Moment' / Photo © Islamic Arts Magazine

The Secretary General of HIPA, His Excellency Ali bin Thalith began the ceremony thanking 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 art of Photography. Bin Thalith also announced that HIPA had reached 196 different countries around the world and surpassed over 300,000 entries since its inception. HIPA also successfully launched the ‘Lakum: For You’ initiative this past season which received great feedback and saw success in the UAE and abroad.

Bin Thalith also revealed that the Patron of HIPA, His Highness the Crown Prince of Dubai will personally select three photographs to be awarded as part of a new category for HIPA’s next season. This will coincide with HIPA’s prize pool increasing to USD 600,000 for its upcoming eighth edition.

The Secretary General of HIPA, His Excellency Ali bin Thalith, HIPA Grand Ceremony, 7th edition 'Moment' / Photo © Islamic Arts Magazine

Her Excellency Sheikha Lubna bint Khalid Al Qasimi, president of Zayed University presented winners of the‘General – Colour’category with their accolades with Chinese photographer Zuhe Ding taking first place, Canadian Jasem Khlef winning second place and Michael Christopher Brown from the United States of America coming in at third place.

HIPA Grand Ceremony, 7th edition 'Moment' / Photo © Islamic Arts Magazine

HIPA Grand Ceremony, 7th edition 'Moment' / Photo © Islamic Arts Magazine

HIPA ‘General – Colour’ category, 1st Place, Zuhe Ding, China / Courtesy of HIPA

HIPA ‘General – Colour’ category, 2nd Place, Jasem Khlef, Canada / Courtesy of HIPA

HIPA ‘General – Black & White’ category, 1st Place, Mahdi Pourebadi, Iran / Courtesy of HIPA

HIPA ‘General – Black & White’ category, 2nd Place, Quanhui Liu, China / Courtesy of HIPA

HIPA ‘General – Black & White’ category, 3rd Place, Yousife Thyab, Kuwait / Courtesy of HIPA

His Excellency Mohammed Al-Murr, Chairman of the Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum Library and the Head of the Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum Arab Language Award’s Board of Trustees presented winners of the ‘Portfolio’ category with accolades going to Canadian wildlife photographer Paul Nicklen in first place, Probal Rashid from Bangladesh taking second place, Boryana Katsarova from Bulgaria taking third place, with Sergio Sberna from Italy and Emirati photographer Mohammed Almessabi taking the fourth and fifth place awards respectively.

HIPA Grand Ceremony, 7th edition 'Moment' / Photo © Islamic Arts Magazine

HIPA Grand Ceremony, 7th edition 'Moment' / Photo © Islamic Arts Magazine

HIPA ‘Portfolio’ category, 1st Place, Paul Nicklen, Canada / Courtesy of HIPA

HIPA ‘Portfolio’ category, 3rd Place, Boryana Katsarova, Bulgaria / Courtesy of HIPA

HIPA ‘Portfolio’ category, 4th Place, Sergio Sberna, Italy / Courtesy of HIPA

HIPA ‘Portfolio’ category, 5th Place, Mohammed Almusabi. United Arab Emirates / Courtesy of HIPA

The ‘Time-lapse’ category winners meanwhile were presented with their awards by His Excellency Abdulrahman Al Owais, UAE Minister of Health and Chairman of the HIPA Board of Trustees. First place in the category was awarded to Beno Saradzic from Slovenia, with second place going to Spanish photographer Oscar Carrasco Ragel. Third place was presented to Yemeni photographer Ameen Al Ghaberi, with fourth place going to Saudi Arabian Awad Alatawi and fifth place to Spanish photographer Ignacio Tejerina Guruciaga.

HIPA Grand Ceremony, 7th edition 'Moment' / Photo © Islamic Arts Magazine

HIPA Grand Ceremony, 7th edition 'Moment' / Photo © Islamic Arts Magazine

HIPA Grand Ceremony, 7th edition 'Moment' / Photo © Islamic Arts Magazine

HIPA ‘Time-lapse’ category, 1st Place, Beno Saradzic, Slovenia / Courtesy of HIPA

HIPA ‘Time-lapse’ category, 2nd Place, Oscar Carrasco Ragel, Spain / Courtesy of HIPA

HIPA ‘Time-lapse’ category, 3rd Place, Ameen-Al-Ghaberi, Yemen. The award was received by the Brother of Ameen Al Ghaberi / Courtesy of HIPA

HIPA ‘Time-lapse’ category, 4th Place, Awad Alataw, Saudi Arabia / Courtesy of HIPA

HIPA ‘Time-lapse’ category, 5th Place, Ignacio Tejerina, Spain / Courtesy of HIPA

His Highness Sheikh Mansoor bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, President of the Dubai International Marine Club, presented the ‘Photography Appreciation Award’ to veteran war photographer James Nachtwey, for his long standing services to the art of photography. Nachtwey is a five-time winner of the Overseas Press Club’s Robert Capa Gold Medal and has just concluded the acclaimed project with Time Magazine titled ‘The Opioid Diaries’, delving into the current opioid crisis gripping the United States.

HIPA Grand Ceremony, 7th edition 'Moment' / Photo © Islamic Arts Magazine

HIPA ‘Photography Appreciation Award’ awarded to veteran war photographer James Nachtwey / Courtesy of HIPA

The ‘Photography Content Creator Award’ was presented to American photographer and environmental activist James Balog, whose ground-breaking Extreme Ice Survey (EIS) and general research on climate change were featured in the Emmy Award-winning, Grammy-nominated documentary ‘Chasing Ice’. The final special award, ‘The Emerging Person in Photography Award’ was presented to two-time Pulitzer Prize winner Muhammed Muheisen. The Palestinian photographer has worked in several countries documenting conflicts and major world events and has gone on to establish the ‘Everyday Refugees Foundation’ to assist and educate refugees around the world.

HIPA 'Photography Content Creator Award' awarded to James Balog / Courtesy of HIPA

HIPA 'The Emerging Person in Photography Award' awarde to Muhammed Muheisen / Courtesy of HIPA

His Highness Sheikh Mansoor bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum also presented the winners of the seventh season’s main theme ‘The Moment’. First place in the category was presented to K M Asad from Bangladesh, with the second place prize going to Canadian Paul Nicklen who picked up his second accolade of the night in the process. The third place prize went to Russian Maxim Korotchenko, fourth place to Marcos Furer from Argentina and finally Chinese photographer Rubo Wu took home fifth place.

HIPA Grand Ceremony, 7th edition 'Moment' / Photo © Islamic Arts Magazine

HIPA 'The Moment' category, 1st Place, K M Asad, Bangladesh / Courtesy of HIPA

HIPA 'The Moment' category, 2nd Place, Paul Nicklen, Canada / Courtesy of HIPA

HIPA 'The Moment' category, 3rd Place, Maxim Korotchenko, Russia / Courtesy of HIPA

HIPA 'The Moment' category, 5th Place, Rubo Wu, China / Courtesy of HIPA

The Grand Prize Award was presented to Syrian Photojournalist Mohamed Alragheb for his touching photograph, ‘Spring in Aleppo’. Alragheb in turn becomes HIPA’s youngest Grand Prize winner in the past seven years and the youngest winner in the seventh edition of the competition (21 years). Also receiving a HIPA Merit Medal was photojournalist Abd Alkader Habak, who is seen in Alragheb’s winning photograph running away from an explosion cradling the injured child.

HIPA Grand Ceremony, 7th edition 'Moment' / Photo © Islamic Arts Magazine

HIPA GRAND PRIZE, Mohamed Alrageb, Syria / Courtesy of HIPA

Mohamed Alrageb, HIPA Grand Ceremony, 7th edition 'Moment' / Photo © Islamic Arts Magazine

HIPA Merit Medal awarded to photojournalist Abd Alkader Habak, who is seen in Alragheb’s winning photograph running away from an explosion cradling the injured child / Courtesy of HIPA

HIPA Board of Trustees / Courtesy of HIPA

HIPA Board of Trustees with the Winners / Courtesy of HIPA

HIPA Board of Trustees with the Winners / Courtesy of HIPA