Dubai may have the world's richest horse race, but it's now got its sights on the stalwarts of the photography world.
The Hamdan bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum International Photography Award (HIPA for short) has announced that its grand prize would be upped to US$120,000 (Dh440,750), an increase of $20,000 for its second edition to begin later this month.
This puts the monetary value of the prize higher than the most recent editions of the Prix Pictet and the International Aperture Award, two of the world's leading competitions for photographers.
The move is positioned to attract more attention to the award. The HIPA team hope it will draw the interest of major international photographers and inspire greater interest in the form locally.
A new category to determine the grand prize winner has been decided, "Beauty of Light", which has three Emirati winners and three non-Emirati winners in addition to the grand prize of $120,000. Black and white photography now has its own category and there's a section dedicated entirely to images related to the Emirates in addition to the "General" photography category.
Submissions open on June 20 and continue until December 31 of this year. Keep an eye on www.hipa.ae for submission details.
