The Hamdan Bin Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum International Photography Award (HIPA) has celebrated the 14th edition of its 2025 awards under the theme "The Power." Omani photographer Salim Al-Hajri has been awarded the prestigious title of HIPA Photographer of the Year for his compelling work documenting Omani and Arab cultural heritage. The HIPA Awards jury recognized Al-Hajri not only for his outstanding photographic work but also for his unwavering commitment to preserving and transmitting Omani and Arab cultural heritage.
Al-Hajri's journey in photography began long before he acquired his first professional camera in 2014. As a child and teenager, he developed a sensitivity to visual imagery through magazines, family travels, and an intuitive practice of photography. When he finally purchased his first camera, he explored the various possibilities of photography and understood its narrative potential: giving form and visibility to the stories, traditions, and landscapes that were close to his heart.
His evolution has been spectacular. Just four years after his professional debut in 2018, he organized his first workshop, entirely self-funded. In 2019, he won his first major award in Oman. From that point forward, his practice accelerated, particularly in building an archive that now contains more than 6,000 professional images. His commitment to documenting Omani heritage reached its pinnacle with a National Geographic cover story dedicated to traditional date production. He also won the highest honor in the FIAP international photography competition as part of the Omani national team.
Beyond his own practice, Salim Al-Hajri has built a considerable legacy through the workshops he organizes. To date, more than three thousand photographers have participated in these sessions. Completely self-funded and managed by his team, these workshops express his independence as well as his conviction that knowledge transmission is a cultural duty. Many of these workshops focus on Omani traditions, desert life, and documenting rural communities.
One of his most emblematic projects remains the Al Sharqiyah Sands photography workshop, organized in the Wahiba Sands desert with photographer Samir bin Isa Al Busaidi. This workshop immerses participants in the heart of the desert environment and the daily life of its inhabitants. Other workshops, such as those dedicated to the Moroccan equestrian tradition of Tbourida or the vast "We Are Oman" series, demonstrate his desire to broaden his perspective beyond Oman to showcase the cultural richness of the Arab world.
These educational activities have strengthened his influence well beyond Oman's borders. His work has been exhibited by prestigious institutions such as Qatar Museums. For Al-Hajri, highlighting Oman's visual richness through his workshops is inseparable from developing a regional photographic culture and better visibility for Arab traditions. The workshops have also contributed to tourism, as the images produced and shared by participants have offered new international perspectives on Omani customs, landscapes, and communities.
Receiving the HIPA Awards Photographer of the Year title was a somewhat remarkable moment for him. Al-Hajri learned the news during the filming of what he thought was an ordinary video. However, Al-Hajri views this award not as an endpoint, but as the beginning of a new chapter. His long-term vision is clear: starting from Oman, he wishes to extend his documentation work to Gulf cultures, then to the entire Arab world.
His ambition is to create a vast interconnected visual ensemble, a living archive of regional traditions that celebrates the diversity and depth of Arab identities. The HIPA award offers him new visibility, new collaborations, and the opportunity to realize projects he has long imagined—projects that combine heritage preservation, artistic excellence, and a profound desire for cultural transmission.
