A showcase of the winning entries of the Time-Lapse (Video) category in the Hamdan International Photography Awards.
Beno Saradzic
Nominated twice for an Emmy for his outstanding cinematography, Beno Saradzic took away the first prize in HIPA’s Time-Lapse category.
“It’s so important to have vision when making time-lapses, so that you’re able to build your visuals into a specific arc that conveys a certain story. What music you use is equally important as well, as it dictates the mood of the time-lapse.”
It’s rare to find fog in Dubai. If you’re lucky, you may witness it once or twice a year. I was particularly interested in showcasing the cityscape of the country, and how the fog mingles with the buildings and architecture. It took a lot of pre-planning. I had to ensure that I was at the highest available point so as to give viewers a god-like view of the area. I had to also constantly check the weather forecast. However, there were days when I would be ready on the rooftop with my gear, and the fog simply did not appear. But I was adamant and continued trying. It took me five years to collect the footage for this time-lapse.
Oscar Carrasco Ragel
His work reflects a concern for time, memory, order and chaos, which he combines with the help of images and videos. He placed second in HIPA’s Time-Lapse category.
“Nothing in nature is steady or permanent. It’s constantly in a state of flux, and I wanted to explore this theme in the time-lapse.”
I decided to use silkworms to portray the evolvement of nature. I placed them in a house-like setup and using three cameras and different spotlights, I documented their progress over the course of 21 days. The result was 15,000 photographs that depicted the unfolding of nature. What I also hope for viewers to decipher from the time-lapse is the duality of the setup… that even though the shoot was carried out in a controlled environment, I was not in control of the silkworms, of nature.
Ameen AlGhabri
A passionate photographer and filmmaker, Ameen has carried out several commercial projects for clients like Pepsi, Emirates and Sky News. He won the third prize in HIPA’s
Time-Lapse category.
“For the Yemeni, the moon or ‘qamar’ in Arabic, is symbolic of beauty. Hence, the stained glass windows or ‘qamariya’ can be found throughout Yemen, as it is said to let the light into the house that is reminiscent of the moon.”
Yemeni architecture is known for its multicoloured stained glass windows known as Qamariya, as it is a part of their culture and heritage. I shot the time-lapse on the rooftops of buildings in Old Sana’a, which is the largest city in the country. I spent three months planning the shot, while also tracking the position of the moon.
Awad Alatawi
An amateur photographer from Saudi Arabia, Awad placed fourth in HIPA’s Time-Lapse category.
“It took me two years to get the one minute footage of the desert time-lapse. So far, this has been my longest project.”
Over the years, the desert has offered me much respite from the daily commotion of city life. It’s an incredibly fascinating place to be at, especially at night, amidst absolute stillness. Not many people have the opportunity to observe what the desert looks like at night. That was the whole purpose behind why I started making time-lapses—to give people a glimpse of this world that I was fortunate to see. But it does take a lot of prior planning. You need to make sure that the weather conditions are right, and check for the positions of the stars.
Ignacio Tejerina Guruciaga is a self-taught photographer specialising in landscape photography, Ignacio is also a passionate mountaineer. He won the fifth prize in HIPA’s Time-Lapse category.
“With the time-lapse, I wanted to pay homage to Navarra, the place of my birth, in northern Spain, and its spectacular mountains.”
I have been shooting time-lapses since 2014, and so far, I’ve made about three. All of them have been shot at Navarra. The Pyrenees mountains, as well as the countryside in the region, are very picturesque. This particular time-lapse was shot over a period of one year.