DUBAI: The winners of the ninth season of the Hamdan bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al-Maktoum International Photography Awards (HIPA) were announced earlier this month. The theme of this year’s awards was ‘Water’ (a “major issue that concerns us all, and touches our lives and the survival of our planet,” HIPA’s secretary general Ali bin Thalith said in a press release), but photographers could also enter the ‘General’ category (open to both black-and-white and color images); the ‘Portfolio’ category and the ‘Mobile Photography’ category. Here, we present a selection of highlights from the winning entries.
Grand Prize Winner
‘Essence of Life’
Jasmine Carey (Australia)
Carey picked up the $120,000 grand prize for this shot of a humpback whale and her newborn calf in Tonga. “As we floated and watched them, the sound of the (rain’s) rhythm faded just a little and the ocean calmed just enough for the tranquil pair to rise up, meeting the light rays just starting to break through the surface.”
First Prize Winner: General (color)
‘Snow Monalisa’
Fahad Al-Enezi (Kuwait)
Al-Enezi’s winning shot shows an Arctic fox retrieving food from an ice hole in Canada. “In times of abundance, the fox stores food in pits 10 centimeters underground and returns to it when needed to avoid losing its entire supply if another fox finds it,” Al-Enezi explained in his artist statement.
First Prize Winner: General (black and white)
‘King of the North’
Talal Al-Rabah (Kuwait)
Al-Rabah gave Kuwait a clean sweep of the ‘General’ category with this image of a polar bear on an iceberg on the Svalbard archipelago between mainland Norway and the North Pole. Al-Rabah captured the shot at just the right time, “with the early morning sunlight touching him from behind creating an extraordinary silhouette.”
Third Prize Winner: Mobile Photography
‘Spirituality of Colors’
Abdullah Alshathri (Saudi Arabia)
Alshathri captured the circumambulation of the Kaaba — the Tawaf Al–Wadaa — the climax of the Hajj, in which pilgrims say farewell to Makkah. “With their movement, a wonderful color palette is created,” Alshathri said.
Fourth Prize Winner: Mobile Photography
‘Under the Rain’
Fahad Faraj Abdulhameid (Saudi Arabia)
This image of Abdulhameid and his wife was taken at the Sharjah Rain Room — a permanent installation at Sharjah Art Foundation. Abdulhameid had left his professional photography gear behind “to focus on our time together,” he said. “But this moment had to be captured. A reflection of the reality of my married life.”
Fifth Prize Winner: Water
‘The Secret of Life’
Yousef bin Shakar Al-Zaabi (UAE)
Al-Zaabi’s shot of a father and son drinking from a lake was taken near Bayan Olghi in Mongolia. The pair were quenching their thirst after “a painstaking walk from their home” to the lake — “a source of life, bringing fresh water for the village people,” Al-Zaabi said in his artist’s statement.
Fourth Prize Winner: Portfolio
‘October Anger’
Karrar Hussen (Iraq)
Hussen’s series of images from Baghdad, taken in October 2019, captured the Iraqi government’s crackdown on peaceful protests by Rafidain youth demanding their rights, even though, he said, the right to protest is included in the Iraqi constitution.
“But the Iraqi lens remains witness to these events,” Hussen said.
Third Prize Winner: General (color)
‘One Soul, Opposite Direction’
Rashed Al-Sumaiti (UAE)
Northern wildernesses proved popular with the judges this year. Al-Sumaiti’s winning image shows two bear cubs scavenging on an Alaskan beach. “In the perfect moment, they were captured heading in opposite directions but in search of the same thing,” he said.
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