Winners of world’s richest photographic awards announced

‘Duty’ by Ary Bassous (Brazil), the Grand Winner of ‘Humanity’ (Image credit: © Ary Bassous)

Brazilian photographer Ary Bassous has bagged the Grand Prize in ‘Humanity’, the tenth edition of the Hamdan International Photography Award (HIPA).

Titled ‘Duty’, his entry depicts medic Dr Juliana Ribeiro having worked continuously for eight hours in the emergency room tending patients infected with the Covid-19 virus.

The marks on Dr Ribeiro’s face share the painful human stories that have consumed the entire world.

For his winning image, judged the best overall picture on the subject of ‘Humanity’, Bassous takes home $120,000 – his share of this year‘s $450,000 HIPA prize fund.

The HIPA awards were founded in 2011 under the patronage of the crown prince of Dubai, Sheikh Hamdan bin Rashid bin Mohammed al Maktoum. The awards are open to any professional or amateur photographer and are free to enter.

Elsewhere in the awards, there were double victories for five countries including India, Italy, France, Spain and Turkey, and four places were accounted for by Indonesian photographers.

To see all the winning entries, visit the HIPA 2021 website.

Sharing his gratitude to His Highness Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, HIPA secretary general Ali bin Thalith said: “Today we are witnessing a great milestone for HIPA as we complete our first decade.

“We commemorate the occasion by shining a light on a global issue that has captured the world’s attention – humanity.

“This season we were humbled by the awe-inspiring and emotionally charged photographs, we received that not only dug deep but also unearthed, through photography, the essence of what it means to be human. In these photographs we felt a myriad of emotions ranging from absolute despair to pure kindness and joy.”

HIPA judge and US photographer Gary Knight added: “Humanity is the most important thing a lens can capture. It is important to photograph and understand others and to be able to communicate that through photography.

“Photography is a unique tool that gives us the ability to talk about others and show the conditions they are in and the feelings they are going through.”

‘Nature’, the 11th season of HIPA, is now open for entries until midnight on 30 November 2021 (UAE Standard Time). For more information, see the HIPA website.

HIPA Humanity winners image 2 — **2021 Grand Prize Winner:** **‘Duty’, by Ary Bassous (Brazil)** “Dr Juliana Ribeiro has just taken off her protective gear for lunch, after eight hours of continuous work in the Covid-19 emergency room. Clear signs of prolonged and repeated use of this type of equipment appear on her face. Her features reflect great effort and extreme fatigue due to the human commitment to her moral duty. What grabs you is the hint of sadness in her face as she feels the pain for humanity, as deaths in Brazil exceeded half a million people due to the pandemic. This photo was taken at the University Hospital Clementino Fraga Velho in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.” (Image credit: © Ary Bassous)

HIPA Humanity winners image 3 — **2021 2nd place: ‘Embrace’, by Ilhan Kilonc (Turkey)** “During the Covid-19 pandemic, much of the world’s population experienced the pain of being away from their loved ones. However, the extent of the psychological impact inflicted on healthcare workers was more profound. Not only are they on the front line, experiencing first-hand the devastation of the pandemic, and exposed to the danger of the virus, but they are unable to go home and be reunited with their loved ones – especially their children.” (Image credit: © Ilhan Kilonc)

HIPA Humanity winners image 4 — **2021 1st Place, Portfolio: ‘Above The Polar Regions’, by Florian Ledoux (France)** “The Arctic and Antarctica are both facing a range of quick changes. These regions are clearly challenging places to live, and the few animals that make it their home have adapted to face the extreme winter conditions. This series reveals and celebrates, from an aerial point of view, the beauty of the incredible frozen landscapes and the wildlife living at the edge of the ice.” (Image credit: © Florian Ledoux)

HIPA Humanity winners image 5 — **2021 2nd Place, Colour: ‘Camille’, by Fatima Zahra Cherkaoui (Morocco)** “This beautiful 11-year-old girl sat looking at the lens that caught her one look; but the number of translations emanating from her eyes was too many to count!” (Image credit: © Fatima Zahra Cherkaoui)

HIPA Humanity winners image 6 — **2021 1st Place, Architectural Photography: ‘Melting Gold’, by Charles Saswinanto (Indonesia)** “The unique exterior, with its golden sun-like architecture, melts into this photo I took of a building located in Incheon, South Korea.” (Image credit: © Charles Saswinanto)

HIPA Humanity winners image 7 — **2021 3rd Place, Humanity: ‘Blast Scars’, by Marc Abou Jaoude (Lebanon)** “6 August, 2020. In the aftermath of the Beirut explosion, an injured truck driver stands inside the port, at the same location where he was at the moment of the explosion two days ago. Despite the massive destruction and the large number of dead and wounded, this driver was lucky enough to live and witness another day.” (Image credit: © Marc Abou Jaoude)

HIPA Humanity winners image 8 — **2021 1st Place, Humanity: ‘Hugs to Survive’, by Mads Nissen (Denmark)** “85-year-old Rosa Luzia Lonardi is hugged by nurse Adriana Silva da Costa Souza; the first hug Rosa has received in five months. In March 2020, nursing homes across Brazil closed their doors to all visitors, preventing millions from visiting elderly relatives, as authorities gave instructions to reduce physical contact to a minimum. But in Viva Beam, an old house outside São Paulo, a new simple innovation called the ‘hug curtain’ was allowed where people could see and hug their loved ones without risking their lives. For those without visitors, volunteers and staff provided that humanitarian support. As they say at Viva Beam, ‘Everyone deserves a good hug’.” (Image credit: © Mads Nissen)

HIPA Humanity winners image 9 — **1st Place, Black and White: ‘The Social Distance’, by Giuseppe Cocchieri (Italy)** “A concert before the Covid-19 pandemic. The poet Giuseppe Ungaretti said that poetry contains a mystery, and that poetry cannot be called poetry if it does not communicate this sense of mystery. For me, photography, as for other forms of art, is above all this. Therefore, describing a mystery is not possible. The photographer, however, wants to share their emotions through an image, hoping that it can arouse the same feeling in others.” (Image credit: © Giuseppe Cocchieri)

HIPA Humanity winners image 10 — **4th Place, Humanity: ‘High Hopes’, by Fabrizio Maffei (Italy)** “A group of lifeguards tries to rescue the passengers of a sinking ship in the Mediterranean Sea. Although the day is coming to an end and the cold is bitter, the rescue team does not stop.” (Image credit: © Fabrizio Maffei)

Niall is the editor of Digital Camera Magazine, and has been shooting on interchangeable lens cameras for over 20 years, and on various point-and-shoot models for years before that.

Working alongside professional photographers for many years as a jobbing journalist gave Niall the curiosity to also start working on the other side of the lens. These days his favored shooting subjects include wildlife, travel and street photography, and he also enjoys dabbling with studio still life.

On the site you will see him writing photographer profiles, asking questions for Q&As and interviews, reporting on the latest and most noteworthy photography competitions, and sharing his knowledge on website building.

Get the Digital Camera World Newsletter