DUBAI: Here are three highlight from HIPA’s Instagram contests.
Abed Qassem Abedaljalil
The UAE-based Hamdan bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum International Photography Award revealed the winners of its recent Instagram competitions — “Pure,” “Tribes,” “Flowers,” and “My Story” — last week. Jordanian photographer Abedaljalil won the “Flowers” contest for this shot of a red rose, taken while experimenting with images of water droplets.
Basma Al-Mater
The Kuwaiti photographer took the “Pure” prize for this stunning photo of an arctic fox, taken in the Norwegian city of Svalbard. “Searching for an arctic fox is like searching for a needle in a haystack,” Al-Mater said in a statement. “It is a very shy and cautious animal and has the tremendous gift of blending with the snowy surroundings.” It took several days of patient searching to get this winning shot.
Fares bin Saleem
For his prize-winning shot in the “Tribes” category, the Yemeni photographer stayed close to home, specifically the city of Tarim in Yemen’s Hadhramaut Valley. Bin Saleem said in a statement that he had noticed the Hadhrami heritage costume pictured “is gradually disappearing,” adding that he believed photography could help “prevent its disappearance and promote awareness of its cultural and historic value.”
