DIMAPUR — Winners
of the Hornbill Hipfest were felicitated at the Naga Heritage Village, Kisama,
during a short programme on Tuesday.
The special guest of the programme and director Art and
Culture Department, Adela Moa, congratulated the winners and expressed her
delight at witnessing the meaningful pictures. She stated that each picture
spoke of a story through which the visitors of the Hornbill Festival would
learn about the life, culture and traditions of the Naga people.
She also thanked the Directorate of Information and Public
Relations (DIPR) for sponsoring the event and expressed hoped that the event
would get bigger in the years to come.
She later presented the winners with certificates and cash
awards.
Ato Mor secured first position, while Viketso Meyase and
Parvej Akhtar claimed second and third positions respectively. The winners were
awarded a certificate along with cash prizes of INR 40000, INR 25000 and INR
15000 respectively.
In the individual category, Keyi Putlang won the best
portrait award, while Sashikala Jami won the best landscape photograph award
and Neilar Mepfhuo won the best wildlife photograph award. The winners of the
sub category were awarded a certificate and INR 10000 each.
Speaking on behalf of the judges, photo journalist,
Kekhriezhazo Miachieo, said that the photos were judged on three aspects namely
lighting, depth and composition and expressed that they had a hard time
choosing the winners from among so many prize worthy photos.
Ababe Ezung, proprietor of Portrait Studio, thanked all the
participants for their contribution and said that everyone was a winner. He
also thanked the department of IPR for co-hosting the event and expressed hope
that the partnership would result in a better and bigger Hipfest in the days to
come.
Hipfest 2024 participants, who have not collected their
certificate, are asked to collect certificate from Portrait Studio in Dimapur,
near City Tower.