HIPA Awards: Portfolio Category Winners

16 Jun 2020

A showcase of the winning entries of the Portfolio category in the Hamdan International Photography Awards.

Christian Vizl Mac Gregor | Mexico

México, Baja California Sur, Bahia Magdalena. A sea lion hunting a school of mackerel some 40 miles off the coast of San Carlos.

Kingdom of Beauty and Danger: The attraction to the sea makes this photographer a captive of what he can see under the waves. Wandering through the ocean and observing the beauty of the creatures in it, he is communicating with nature directly, always surprised by what he sees. Most people only see these creatures as a source of food but they have voices we can hear and rights we must
preserve in the face of danger. Dangers of human destruction of this beautiful environment in several ways – overfishing,
pollution, plastic, radiation, climate change and so on.

Zhoufan Cui | China

Rafting People on Yalu River: The Yalu River, now the border between China and North Korea, has had a history of transporting wooden rafts for thousands of years. Every year between Spring and Fall, North Korean loggers cut logs in the Changbai mountains and release them along the Yalu River. The raft travels down the river to Zhongjiangjun, North Korea. With the development of the modern transportation industry, this will gradually fade out of history and become a valuable part of the world’s cultural heritage.

AthoUllah | Indonesia

Fishermen’s boat docking in the port of East Java

The Predator’s Fins: Sharks are known to be a killing machine at the top of the marine food chain. But since the 1990s, the number of Black-Fin Sharks (Carcharhinus Melanopterus) has been declining. Based on research, millions of sharks are killed every year for their fins. The cost of shark fin soup ranges from USD 70-150, which is rumoured to be a cure for some illnesses even though it contains Methylmercury which is dangerous to our health. Efforts to regulate fishing in Indonesia are not yet effective enough. Lack of awareness of the role sharks play in the marine eco-system poses a major threat to marine life. Pictures from one of the fishing ports in Indonesia.

: Sharks caught by fishermen in Indonesia’s Ocean

: The new shark caught by fishermen in the outskirts of the dock.

: Two workers carry the new shark derived from the boat.

: A number of the knife used for cutting fish including sharks.

: A worker cuts one of the fins from the body of a shark taken by a fisherman.

: A number of different types of sharks caught by fishermen stranded at the fish abattoir in East Java.

: A baby shark is removed from its mother belly that was caught by fishermen in fish cuts.

: Some shark fins and tails are dried in the sun before they are processed into seafood dishes such as soups.

: Some shark fins are displayed in one of the traditional Chinese medicine shops.

Karrar Hussen | Iraq

October Anger: Peaceful protests are considered human rights around the world and are included in the Iraqi constitution, but the Iraqi
government has reacted severely with the Rafidain youth who demonstrated in Tahrir Square in Baghdad in October 2019 demanding their rights. But the Iraqi lens remains a witness to these events.

Fausto Podavini | Italy

Axum. Ethiopia. Orthodox priests during a procession just outside of the Church of Our Mary Lady in Zion, where apparently the Ark of Alliance and the tables of Moses are held. The Tabot (copies of Moses’ tables) are taken here in processions.

Ethiopian Rituals: A representation of black Christianity in northern Ethiopia. This is an anthropological portfolio that wants to give back the country’s identity that has been subjected to irreversible change caused by investments from both Europeans and Chinese. The daily lives of these believers are based on liturgical times. The rituality of religious festivities is melded into their everyday activities. Young and old, men and women, all hold on to their beliefs and identity, by preserving their religion. They achieve this by resisting outside influence and not changing for any reason.

: Axum. A wooden cross dominates the city from its highest point. Even though it’s placed on the top of a hill, this is a meeting point for many Ethiopians. According to legend, Axum is the place of residence of the Queen of Sheba, as well as being the city where Menelik, the first Ethiopian emperor, son of the Queen and King Solomon, would have brought the Ark of the Covenant from Jerusalem.

: Lalibela. The priest of the Church of St. George meets a believer. The King of Lalibela defended Christianity in Ethiopia by building Churches hollowed in the stone and connected one another by tunnels and in order to be protected. By doing so, the King created a “New Jerusalem”, a reproduction of the main places of Palestine, so that the believer could do their pilgrimage in the Holy Land without facing the risks of the very long trip.

: Lalibela. Typical Orthodox dance done by guys during festivities. They get in a round shape and, like in a tribal dance, swing their sticks up and down.

: Yemrehanna Monastery. A priest looks outside of the only window of the crypt of the monastery before going out in procession. In the Church Tewahedo, the very numerous clergy, is mostly married, but this is allowed only before receiving orders.

: In the monastery of Yemrehanna Kristos. A praying woman inside the courtyard of the Monastery hollowed inside the cave. The whole construction is based on Olive tree wooden panels used to uplift it from the watery terrain underneath it. Many of the churches of the Tewahedo religion, are carved into the rock, sometimes invisible from the outside as they are camouflaged in the natural environment that surrounds them. Legend has it that the difficulty in finding the churches is due to a Muslim queen who wanted to eradicate Christianity from Ethiopia, burning all the churches she could find.

: Debra Damo Monastery. During a funeral, a woman cries the death of her father. Using a rope, the coffin will be pulled to the top of the hill, where the Monastery is located. Only men can be present during the service, is held near the Monastery. Debre Damo, is one of the many churches open only to men. In this Monastery, only young and old sacertodes live, and even the animals are all male.

: Lalibela. Aspiring monks dedicate their time to reading holy books before the morning service that strarts at 4 AM. The legend narrates that the rocky churches of Lalibela have been made in a single night by the angels, and that’s why the city it’s knows as “The city of angels”.

: Shire. Two priests during a night prayer in the Di Enda Silassie Church. In the years of resistance (1607-1632) against the invasion of Islam, Ethiopia asked Portugal for help; this favored the entry into the country of Catholic missionaries from whom he asked about it torn. The Christians remained faithful to their tradition, out of perseverance. A rebellion ensued followed that induced the king to restore the ancient rites. His successor succeeded in expelling the Latin missionaries.

: 10km from Axum. In the middle of the night, Christian Orthodox women go to the Church of Our Mary Lady in Zion to celebrate the Maryam Zion festivity. In the second half of the nineteenth century, the emperor Tewodros, came to power and reunited the country announcing the rise of modern Ethiopia. The Tewahedo Ethiopian Orthodox Church should be considered not only as the historical and religious custodian of the country, but also to look at it as the center of the Christianity of the Horn of Africa.