Henley Spiers from United Kingdom grabs the Grand Prize with Incredible photo of a super bird, while 7 countries score inspiring double victories.

Ali bin Thalith expressed, “HIPA" exceeded half a million cumulative participation from 205 countries, to become the most widely spread artistic brand in the world.”

Ali bin Thalith expressed, “We monitor the artistic scene well, and we value the Asian situation, which has reached an advanced stage of maturity and reaping the fruits of planning”.

29 July 2022

The Hamdan bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum International Photography Award (HIPA) announced the winners of its Eleventh season of competition ‘Nature’.

British photographer, Henley Spiers won the coveted grand prize of USD$ 120,000, while The embodiment of Arab creativity photographers Kuwaiti photographer Majid Sultan Al Zaabi won the Photographic Content Creators Award, and the Qatari photographer Ali Seif Al-Din won first place in the “Portrait”, and the Egyptian photographer “Ahmed Mahmoud Abdel Azim Abdel Razek” won third place in “Portrait” as well.

The "Nature" season witnessed a creative sweep of Asian photographers who booked half of the winning places through 12 out of 25 centers, including the three places for Special Awards. The international photographic scene of the winners of this season was also decorated with the double presence of 7 countries on the winners lists, namely the United States of America, Canada, China, Russia, India, Indonesia and Bangladesh.

Secretary General, Ali bin Thalith shared his gratitude to 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 for HIPA and the art of photography. Bin Thalith continued, “Today, with communities of photographers around the world, we celebrate honoring the winners of the “Nature” season, in fulfillment of the vision of the award set by His Highness, the Crown Prince of Dubai, the patron of HIPA, in dedicating artistic spaces and cultural initiatives to support priority issues that touch the future of life on our beautiful planet. we celebrate also "Half a million-participating works" in all seasons. The outputs of this season are high-end artistic messages armed with soft power capable of drawing the world's attention to the seriousness of environmental issues and the need to unite efforts and enhance common awareness of the importance of preserving our great home that we all share.”

Bin Thalith also praised the presence of an influential Arab figure in the societies of photographers in the Middle East on the list of honorees with Special Awards, in addition to Arab winners from Qatar and Egypt who achieved advanced positions in the “portrait”. He added: We are pleased with the appearance of Japan in the lists of winners for the first time, and with the presence of winners from Russia and Indonesia, along with the United States, Mexico and Guatemala, and with a quick reading of the map of the Pacific Ocean, we find that “HIPA” succeeded in bridging the gaps, bridging distances, and building bridges of artistic, cultural and human communication across various nations and civilizations. And dedicating opportunities for artistic competition and gaining knowledge and skills to creators in 205 countries, to become the most widely spread artistic brand around the world. We closely monitor the art scene and its transformations across the international creative communities, and we value the Asian state, which has reached an advanced stage of maturity and reaping the fruits of long-term action plans. We at HIPA are committed to working hard to maintain technical gains, innovate the best, create sustainable differences, and honor the largest possible segment of visual talent.

Grand Prize .. The story of the adventurous Gannett escaping from the speed radars

The Grand Prize winner, USD $120,000, goes to Henley Spiers from United Kingdom, for his photo of a Gannett swimming in an artistic shower of bubbles after breaking through the water surface at an estimated speed of 100 kilometers per hour, like a live torpedo, absorbing the massive blow through its strong skull and protective airbags in the head and chest.

Nature Category Winners

First place is Ryo Minemizu from Japan, followed by Marcio Cabral from Brazil in second place, third place is awarded to Navin Kumar from India, while Thomas Vijayan from Canada takes fourth place, and Kristin Wright from USA is in fifth place.

General Category Winners

For the General – Colour category, first place goes to Nguyen Vu Cao from Vietnam, second place is Nay Soemoe from Myanmar, and third place is awarded to Rahat Bin Mustafiz from Bangladesh.

In the General – Black & White category, first place is Muhammad Alamsyah Rauf from Indonesia, followed by Chinese photographers Shuchuan Liu in second and Luis Lyons from Mexico in third place.

Portfolio Category Winners

Canadian photographer Paul Nicklen shines through in first place, with second place going to Iurii Pritisk from Russia, while third place is awarded to Liguo Chen from China, followed by Shad Abdul Kader from India in the fourth place, and finally Aleksei Tsiler from Russia taking fifth place.

Portrait Category Winners

First place goes to Ali Saifaldeen from Qatar, and Mohammad Radi Abdel Gani from Guatemala takes second place, then Ahmed Mahmoud Abdulazim Abdulrazik from Egypt is in third place, Indonesian photographer Agustinus Elwan in fourth place, and Italian photographer Antonela Cunsolo completes the category in fifth place.

Special Award Recipients

The Eleventh season set the stage, yet again, for our special awards which include the Photography Content Creator Award, the Emerging Person/Organisation in Photography Award and the Photography Appreciation Award. Our special awards recognise photographers and organisations who have dedicated themselves and contributed positively to the photographic industry.

American photojournalist Kurt Mutchler is the recipient of the Photography Appreciation Award recognizing his career as an editor of print and electronic photographs, and his contribution as a photo editor to the photographic stories and novels that were published in the organizations in which he worked. He provided a remarkable example of the pivotal role that workers behind the scenes add to the image industry; a role that rarely gets the spotlight.

The ‘Photography Content Creator Award’ was awarded to Kuwaiti photographer Majed Sultan Al Zaabi considered as an educational and cognitive activist on social networks. He shares his knowledge, experience and expertise with regards to photography and how to produce dynamic and impactful content for key digital platforms. He draws on his 20 years of experience in the field of wildlife photography and documenting charitable projects in Africa.

The ‘Emerging Person in Photography Award’ was awarded to Bangladeshi photographer Turjoy Chowdhury. He is a researcher, visual storyteller and owner of long-term art projects, specializing in the history of wars and conflicts, geopolitics, human rights and social issues.