Hamdan International Photography Award (HIPA) 2017-18

Hamdan International Photography Award 2017-18 in its 7^th edition invites global photographer community to submit their entries for the Awards. There is no application fee for participating in Hamdan International Photography Award (HIPA) and anyone above the age of 18 can participate in this photography competition by submitting their photographs. HIPA 2017-18 will be accepting submission under these 4 categories:

• The Moment
• Portfolio (Story-Telling)
• General
• Time-Lapse (Video)

Apart from above-mentioned categories, 3 special awards will also be offered and the entry to these 3 awards only after receiving an invitation from HIPA. The 3 special categories are:

• Photography Appreciation Award
• The Photography Content Creator Award.
• Emerging Person/Organisation in Photography Award

Total prizes of approx. $423,000 will be given to the winners under various categories.

Hamdan International Photography Award Dates

The total prize money is $423,000 which will be distributed to the top 5 photographs from every category. The details of the Prize Money are as follow:

Grand Prize: $120,000

Other than these awards 3 special awards will also be offered in the following categories:

• Photography appreciation award (Personal, Group or Team Award) : $20,000 (Approx. Rs.12,68,000)
• The Photography Content Creator Award: $15,000 (Approx. Rs.5,07,000)
• Emerging Person/Organisation in Photography Award (Approx. Rs. 2,00,000) 

Online applications can be made for participating in the competition using the official website of HIPA. The applicants need to register before submitting their entries for the award. The details of the process are as follow:

• Mode of Submission: The entries for the award can be submitted online only. Interested candidates need to go through the registration process before submitting their entries.

Click here to Apply

(Application Closed)

• Categories of Submission: The submission of an entry can be made under any one of the following categories:
  • The Moment
  • Portfolio (Story-Telling)
  • General
  • Time-Lapse (Video)
• Number of Entries: Any applicant can submit only one photograph in each of the categories mentioned above. A confirmation mail will be sent to the applicant after successful submission.
• Specifications of the photograph: There are no specific requirements regarding resolution and dimensions, but still, the following points need to be taken care of while submitting:
  • Format: JPEG
  • Size: Minimum 2MB
  • Editing: Only minor editing is allowed by which the authentication of the photograph is not affected.
  • Original/Raw File:  All the shortlisted photographs should submit original files of their photo, failure in doing so will result in disqualification of the entry.
  • Things not to be used: Contemporary photographs along with photographs having tags, initials, frames, logos, borders, signatures or reference marks are not eligible for the award.
  • Black & White photographs and panoramic photographs are eligible for the awards.
  • A model Release form is required while submitting portrait photographs.
• Deleting or editing the entry: The submitted photographs can be removed or replaced only within three days of submitting. After three days no changes will be allowed.

There will be four stages of the judging and the judging panel will consist of usually 9 judges. The judging process is completely anonymous, neither the judges are aware of the names and other details of the participants nor the names of the judges are disclosed prior to the commencement of the Awards. The details of the selection process are as follow:

• Judging Stage 1: In the stage, all the submitted images are checked for their compatibility with the rules and regulations of the award. During Stage 1, either the photograph marked as qualified or disqualified.
• Judging Stage 2: All the qualified photographs are now judged by 3 groups of judges having 3 members each. Each judging group takes care of a specific category. The photographs are given score out of 100 in this stage.
• Judging Stage 3: Top 25 % of the photographs from the Stage 2 are judged in Stage 3 by all the judges (usually 9). Here again they are given score between 1 and 100.
• Judging Stage 4: Top 500 photographs from Stage 3 advance to Stage 4 and during the marking they are arranged in 3 bands based on their scores.
  • Band 1: Photographs with minimum score of 65 eligible for 3^rd place.
  • Band 2: Photographs with minimum score of 75 eligible for 2nd place.
  • Band 3: Photographs with minimum score of 85 eligible for 1st place.
  • The selection of the grand prize winner will be done from band 3 photographs.
• Result: The winners of the award will be informed about the result via email and they will be requested to provide related documents for the verification purpose.

HIPA
DIFC, Building 4,
Dubai, UAE

Phone: +971 4 3711111
Fax:      +971 4 3711100
General Enquiry: info@hipa.ae
Helpdesk: customer.helpdesk@hipa.ae