Hyderabad, January 28, 2022…..Hyderabad is chosen as the host city for the maiden “International Photographer of the Year Awards (IPOY 2022)”. The Awards will be presented in September in Hyderabad. More than 5000 photographers from 65 countries are expected to compete for the awards to be given out in 8 different categories. All the award-winning photographers will be flown to Hyderabad. This will help position Hyderabad, its brand, culture and identity. Hyderabad is already a global city. The contest allows us to showcase the city, its culture, uniqueness to the community of global photographers and others said Mr BM Santhosh, IAS, MD, Hyderabad Growth Corridor Limited(HGCL) and Secretary the Hyderabad Metropolitan Development Authority(HMDA) while addressing a press conference in the city at HMDA Office at Khajaguda on Friday.
Speaking further the HMDA officer said, though HMDA is an urban planning agency of Hyderabad in Telangana is equally responsible not just to plan but also to showcase its infrastructure, promoting the city, art and culture. That is the reason why HMDA is associated with the Awards program which is said to be a comprehensive set of awards in photography being held for the first time in South Asia.
The Indian Photo Festival (IPF) has been exposed to more than 4 million audiences and its website is visited from 140 countries. Seven editions are held so far. This augurs well for us. Though Hyderabad is well known globally, we will still improve its stature. More people will discover Hyderabad. It helps us to promote the city, Mr BM Santhosh added.
The entries will be called in eight categories such as PhotoJournalism, Documentary, Travel and Nature, Wildlife, Street, Portrait, Wedding and Mobiles. We have democratized participation by adding ‘Mobiles’ as a category. So that people need not worry that this competition is only meant for professionals. Today, with a mobile phone in hand, everyone is a photographer and videographer, said Mr Aquin Mathews, Founder and the Festival Director of IPF.
Photography can change the world. It has been a great educator. It has the power to change your perspective on life. It is a universal language. It records history, flashes it back to the bygone era. It preserves beautiful memories. It has the power to stop time for a moment. Now it will add its power to promote Hyderabad globally, said Mr Aquin.
A pool of $ 25000 worth of cash and camera gear are to be won by the winners. It will open for accepting entries from photographers from around the world from March 21st. And the last date will be June 21st. Shortlisted winners will be announced on August 15. The awards will be presented on September 10, 2022, in Hyderabad. All the award-winning photographs will be showcased at the IPF exhibition to be held in Hyderabad from September 11 to October 12th, shared by Mr Aquin Mathews.
Mr P. Ramakrishna Rao, President of CREDAI Hyderabad said the 400 plus years old city of Hyderabad has many monuments, rocks, landscapes and attractions, which can be showcased well to an international audience. IPOY 2022 helps promote Hyderabad and attract more visitors to the city. He also advised the organizers to incorporate the “Host City Award”
The objective behind this awards program is to discover compelling images, help photographers to get their works validated and earn recognition for good work. It will also help build a community. The winning images and winning photographers will get an opportunity to travel to different locations in the world and promote their works as well. Our mission is to make photography accessible to all, Mr Aquin said.
Indian Photo Festival (IPF) is a Hyderabad based, not-for-profit initiative of Light Craft Foundation, which is India’s longest-running international photography festival showcasing a wide range of photography from India and around the globe with a series of events to promote the art of photography and at the same time addresses social issues through the medium of photography.
The Indian Photo Festival has already put Hyderabad city on the global pedestal. With the introduction of INTERNATIONAL PHOTOGRAPHER OF THE YEAR AWARDS and choosing Hyderabad to be the first host city, it will firmly establish Hyderabad as a brand not just as a destination for the awards function among the photography fraternity from all over the world but also to explore its tourism potential he added.
Several editions of Indian Photo Festivals have already been held in the past attracting who-is-who in the photography world. And now with this awards program, Hyderabad has become a name to reckon in the photography world.
Some of the legendary photographers who already graced IPF and Hyderabad are World’s top Photojournalists, Nick Ut, Pilutizer Winner and the Naplam Girl image fame, Carol Guzy a four-time Pulitzer Award Winner; the world’s iconic photographers like Richard Drew, a 73years Associated Press photo-journalist, known all over the world for capturing the Falling Man from the World Trade Centre; British photographer Tim Flach, an animal photographer known for taking human-like portraits of animals; Rachael Strecher, Director of Media Innovation at the National Geographic Society who leads grantmaking to support photographers, writers, filmmakers, data visualization experts, cartographers and other storytellers and many others like them.
