HIPA 2026 International Photography Award
HIPA 2026 International Photography Award is now open for entries!
The Hamdan International Photography Award (HIPA) continues its new season opening a new award building on a ten-year tradition of inspiring artistic and intellectual talents to propagate the true spirit of photography and highlight its crucial role in the creation of a culture, as well as giving recognition to innovators worldwide.
Short description
After ten seasons of Hamdan International Photography Award and inspiring artistic and intellectual talents to propagate the true spirit of photography, as well as giving recognition to innovators worldwide, HIPA is ready to open its new call for entries for 2026.
The Hamdan International Photography Award (HIPA) is an international photography award, founded in 2011 under the patronage of crown prince of Dubai sheikh Hamdan bin Rashid bin Mohammed al Maktoum.
The Award encourages photographers to share their craft and demonstrate excellence in what is now one of the most coveted Awards in the world.
This year, the main theme of the HIPA contest is ‘Family’.
HIPA invites photographers to capture meaningful moments, human connections, and emotionally resonant stories that reflect relationships, identity, belonging, and shared experience.
Family is the heart of life and the foundation of every society. It reflects belonging, connection and continuity. Its strength is a true measure of lasting stability and prosperity.
Beyond people, family represents everything that grows, forms and exists together. It is a hidden language of connection found in plant families, mineral formations and materials shaped by time and purpose. This theme invites photographers to see family in new ways and capture the beauty of unity wherever it exists.
Other categories:
➜ This season introduces the inspiring theme ‘Dreams Through AI’, embracing the spirit of innovation and technological advancement. This category opens wide horizons for imagination, allowing photographers to merge reality with fantasy. Through thoughtful composition and AI techniques, creators can produce harmonious, dreamlike images that challenge perception and bring visionary ideas to life.
➜ Due to popular demand, Sports Photography returns as a key theme in the fifteenth season. This high-energy category celebrates movement, power and emotion. It offers sports photographers and enthusiasts the perfect stage to freeze decisive moments, translate the intensity of competition and showcase their technical mastery and creative vision.
➜ The Portfolio (Story-Telling) category continues for the tenth consecutive season, standing as a powerful platform for visual storytelling. Through exceptional submitted and winning works, this category highlights the depth of a photographers’ narrative abilities and their passion for storytelling through images.
➜ And lastly, with complete artistic and intellectual freedom, the General category invites photographers to soar creatively — whether in black and white or colour images — without boundaries or limitations.
HIPA’s appointed judging panel shall assess and determine the winning Photo(s)/Video(s). The results, prizes and the winners will be announced in a public ceremony.
Submission requirements:
➜ Submitted Photo(s) must be in JPEG format, with high quality and resolution, of a minimum 5MB in size, the minimum of the longest edge should be no less than 2000 pixel and the quality no less than 300dpi and to be suitable for publication.
➜ In the Portfolio category, participants must submit 5 to 10 photographs that together tell a unified story.
Who may enter?
The competition is open to anyone aged 18 or over.
Prize:
The competition offers major cash awards, including a Grand Prize of USD $200,000, with substantial category prizes (for example, USD $40,000 / $30,000 / $20,000 for top placements in categories listed such as Family and Dreams Through AI), and is widely described as having an overall prize fund reaching around USD $1,000,000.
Entry fees:
There is no entry fee to participate!
