It could be you… $1,000,000 to be won in world's richest photographic awards

HIPA 2024
(Image credit: HIPA)

With a staggering $1,000,000 prize fund, the Hamdan International Photography Awards are open for entries. The theme for this year's HIPA contest is Sustainability - with the Grand Prize winner receiving a cash award of $200,000 for the best overall picture on the subject.

Now in its 13th year, the free-to-enter contest has become reknown for being the world's richest photographic contest - but this year the prize pot has more than doubled to make this competition even more tantalizing.

Founded in 2011 under the patronage of crown prince of Dubai Sheikh Hamdan bin Rashid bin Mohammed al Maktoum, the HIPA awards are open to any photographer, professional or amateur from anywhere in the world

Alongside the Sustainability theme, there will also be a special category for sports photography, and a new section for short-form videos. And as usual, there will be portfolio, color, and black-and-white awards to be won too. 

The rules of the competition now clearly state that photos generated with AI are not permitted, and HIPA says it "reserves the right to reject works submitted using this technology without explaining the reasons".

Entries to the competition must be submitted before June 30, 2024. To see the full details and to enter the competition, see the HIPA 2024 website.

2023: Massimo Giorgetta from Italy won the grand prize with his image of 'a magical 5cm Jellyfish Tunicate that is filled and covered by other marine creatures; like a miniature diverse ecosystem'. (Image credit: Massimo Giorgetta)

Winners from the HIPA Nature 2022 eleventh season

2022: British photographer Henley Spiers won with a dramatic underwater image of a gannet (Image credit: Henley Spiers / HIPA)

2020: Grand Prize Winner won Australian photographer  Jasmine Carey  $120,000 for her touching underwater image of a mother humpback whale with its calf . (Image credit: Jasmine Carey)

2019: Malaysian photographer Edwin Ong Wee Kee won the 2019 Grand Prize on the theme of Hope. (Image credit: Edwin Ong Wee Kee)

2018: HIPA 2018 Grand Prize Winner Mohamed Alrageb won the $120,000 Grand Prize with a shot showing a fellow photojournalist running with an injured child in the aftermath of a car bomb in Aleppo, with his camera still in hand.  (Image credit: Mohamed Alrageb)
Chris George

Chris George has worked on Digital Camera World since its launch in 2017. He has been writing about photography, mobile phones, video making and technology for over 30 years – and has edited numerous magazines including PhotoPlus, N-Photo, Digital Camera, Video Camera, and Professional Photography. 

His first serious camera was the iconic Olympus OM10, with which he won the title of Young Photographer of the Year - long before the advent of autofocus and memory cards. Today he uses a Nikon D800, a Fujifilm X-T1, a Sony A7, and his iPhone 15 Pro Max.

He has written about technology for countless publications and websites including The Sunday Times Magazine, The Daily Telegraph, Dorling Kindersley, What Cellphone, T3 and Techradar.

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