This photo won $200,000: picture of wind farm under a dramatic sky takes top dollars in HIPA contest

Photo titled ‘Quiet Power’, winner of the grand prize at the 13th season of HIPA

(Image credit: Liping Cao)

Chinese photographer Liping Cao has won the grand prize in the world's richest photography competition – the Hamdan bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum International Photography Award (HIPA).

For 2024, the prize pot of this prestigious international competition has been super-sized to US$1 million as it enters "a new phase"… and Liping Cao has bagged $200,000 [£156,000/AU$306,000] for his photo titled 'Quiet Power'.

His picture certainly meets the brief of this year's edition of HIPA, themed 'Sustainability'.

This $200,000 winning photo was taken on a Canon EOS 5D Mark III DSLR, with a Canon EF 24-105mm f/4L lens (exposure: 1/200 sec at f/11, ISO 100).

And in a one-two for China, Liping Cao's compatriot Ruijuan Huang won the Sustainability category.

Her winning image is titled ‘Harnessing the Sun’ and depicts an expanse of solar panels "strategically placed across the lush hills of Guandong Province."

• Interested in our guide to the best cameras for shooting landscapes?

Photograph titled ‘Harnessing the Sun’ by Ruijuan Huang, winner of the sustainability category at the 13th season of HIPA, the Hamdan bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum International Photography Award] — ‘Harnessing the Sun’ by Ruijuan Huang, winner of the sustainability category (Image credit: © Ruijuan Huang)

HIPA held the annual awards ceremony for its thirteenth competition season at Dubai’s Museum of the Future, one of the city's many iconic landmarks, and Digital Camera World was there.

Attended by leading figures in the international photography community, the event also bestowed the Photography Appreciation Award on photographer Jimmy Nelson, accompanied by a cash prize of $100,000 [£78,000/A$153,000].

This award recognises individuals who have done much to advance photography, “inspiring future generations of creatives to continue pushing the boundaries of the art form”, says HIPA.

The Sustainability winners get to share a cut of the competition's staggering $1,000,000 prize fund – £780,000/A$1,529,000. While other international photo awards might be bigger in terms of the number of images submitted, the prize pot of HIPA dwarfs them all.

Scroll down to see the other winners of Sustainability, as revealed at the Museum of the Future on 12 November 2024…

Photograph titled ‘Resilience’ by Rahul Sachdev (India), winner of the general (colour) category at the 13th season of HIPA, the Hamdan bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum International Photography Award] — ‘Resilience’ by Rahul Sachdev (India), winner of the general (colour) category at the 13th season of HIPA (Image credit: © Rahul Sachdev)

Photograph titled ‘Bond of the Deep’ by Renee Capozzola (US), winner of the General (black and white) category at the 13th season of HIPA, the Hamdan bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum International Photography Award] — ‘Bond of the Deep’ by Renee Capozzola (US), winner of the general (black and white) category (Image credit: © Renee Capozzola)

Photograph titled ‘Shades of Ice’ by Tobias Friedrich (Germany), winner of the sports category at the 13th season of HIPA, the Hamdan bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum International Photography Award] — ‘Shades of Ice’ by Tobias Friedrich (Germany), winner of the sports category (Image credit: © Tobias Friedrich)

Photograph from the series titled ‘War in Gaza’ by Fatma Alzahra Shbair (Palestinian Territory), winner of the portfolio (story-telling) category at the 13th season of HIPA, the Hamdan bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum International Photography Award] — Photograph from the series titled ‘War in Gaza’ by Fatma Alzahra Shbair (Palestinian Territory), winner of the portfolio (story-telling) category (Image credit: © Fatima Shbair)

Still photograph from the video titled ‘You’ by Aleksandr Tsuprun (Russian Federation), winner of the short videos (for social media) category at the 13th season of HIPA, the Hamdan bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum International Photography Award] — Opening title of the film called ‘You’ by Aleksandr Tsuprun (Russian Federation), winner of the short videos (for social media) category (Image credit: © Aleksandr Tsuprun)

HIPA offers a wide range of categories for photographers to enter, and submitting images to the competition is free.

Categories include color and black and white (both have a sub-category within the popular ‘general’ category), portfolio and sports, while a new category to celebrate excellence in short-form videos was introduced for this 13th season of the awards.

Here's a full list of the winners:

General, colour: Rahul Vishwanath Sadhdev (India)

General, black and white: Renee Capozzola (US)

Portfolio: (story-telling): Fatma Alzahra Shbair (Palestinian Territory)

Sports: Tobias Friedrich (Germany)

Short videos (for social media): Aleksandr Tsuprun (Russian Federation)

Sustainability: Ruijuan Huang (China)

Grand prize: Liping Cao (China)

Other award winners announced at the ceremony in Dubai included:

Photography Appreciation Award: Jimmy Nelson

Photography Content Creator Award: Salma Ali Humaid Alsuwaidi (UAE)

HIPA Photographer of the Year: Samy Al Olabi (Syrian Arab Republic)

See the previous HIPA winners

Fantastic jellyfish photo wins $120,000 grand prize in HIPA 2023

Malaysian photographer grabs 2019 $120,000 HIPA grand prize

$120,000 photo: bird shot wins big bucks in HIPA 2022

$120,000 grand prize winner announced for HIPA 2018

Winners of world's richest photographic awards 2021

Amazing image of whales $120,000 HIPA 2020 prize

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.

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