HIPA announces prize winners at grand ceremony

China’s Fuyang Zhou wins the grand prize of $120,000 at the annual HIPA competition in Dubai. The Chinese photographer is among 17 winners at the grand ceremony, which took place at the Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC) on the evening of 17 March.

With prize money totaling $389,000, HIPA is the richest photography competition in the world.

HIPA also announces the winners across its four categories: General, Black and White, Street Life and the main category and theme, Creating the Future. Cash prizes were given to photographers from both within the UAE and outside.

Among the international winners are: Yanan Li from China, who takes first place in the Black and White category ($16,000); Ali Kh Al Zaidi from Kuwait, who wins first prize in the Creating the Future category ($20,000); and Vladimir Proshin, who takes first prize ($14,000) in the General category.

The Hamdan International Photography Awards (HIPA) was launched in 2011 by His Highness Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, the Crown Prince of Dubai.

The contest “was conceived to promote the art of photography by embracing all talents and creative minds in the field from around the world”, say the organisers.

This year, the competition received more than 26,000 entries from 156 countries, including India, Indonesia, Brazil, Malaysia and the Russian Federation, as well as countries in the United Arab Emirates.

HIPA secretary general said: “We are extremely proud and gratified to see this edition yet again raising the bar for challenges, notwithstanding the big success it achieved in the two earlier editions.”

Prior to the grand ceremony, HIPA announced two special awards: American photojournalist Steve McCurry was awarded the $20,000 Photography Appreciation Award for his long-standing commitment to photography; and Dr Ren Ng, founder of Lytro, a company currently developing light field technology, won the $25,000 Photographic Research and Report Award.

www.hipa.ae