$1,000,000 up for grabs in world’s richest photography awards as 2026 HIPA contest theme is revealed!
January 14, 2026
With a breathtaking $1,000,000 prize fund, the Hamdan International Photography Awards are now open for entries. The theme for this year’s HIPA contest is Family – with the Grand Prize winner receiving a cash award of US$200,000 (£150,000) for the best overall image on the subject.
Now in its 15th year, this free-to-enter contest is renowned as the world’s richest photography competition, thanks to the organizers doubling the cash prize pool in 2024, bringing the total prize value to an impressive US$1 million (£750,000).
Founded in 2011 under the patronage of the 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 aged 18 or over.
Alongside the main Family theme, there is a new category for AI-generated images, called AI dreams – as well as the return of the Portfolio category. Separate prizes for sports photography and color and black-and-white images will also be awarded, as well as there being a general category.
Entries to the competition must be submitted before May 31, 2026. To see the full details and to enter the competition, see the HIPA 2025 website.
Previous HIPA grand prize winners
2025: Italian photographer Gianluca Gianferrari has won the grand prize in the most recent HIPA competition. His photo ‘Etna’s Paroxysm’ shows glowing volcanic rock being ejected from Sicily’s Mount Etna volcano during an eruption. (Image credit: Gianluca Gianferrari)
2024: Chinese photographer Liping Cao has won the grand prize on the theme of Sustainability. Entitled ‘Quiet Power’, the images show a wind farm on the shores of Lake George, New South Wales, Australia, under some moody clouds and are an interesting juxtaposition of the power of nature and renewable energy. (Image credit: Liping Cao)
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)
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 the theme The Moment, 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 )
Author: Chris George Source: DigitalCameraWorld Reviewed By: Editorial Team
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