DUBAI (Syed Mudassar Khushnood) - Bangladeshi photographer Pino Rahman has won a major international photography award in Dubai for a poignant photograph showing a family sleeping inside their fire-ravaged home.
He received the $200,000 grand prize, equivalent to approximately AED 734,000, at the 15th edition of the Hamdan bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum International Photography Award.
The award was presented to Rahman by Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum at a ceremony held at Dubai's Museum of the Future on November 10. The event was held under the patronage of Dubai Crown Prince Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum and attended by photographers and prominent personalities from various countries.
Rahman's award-winning photograph, titled "Under One Sky", was taken in November 2025 after a devastating fire in Korail, a settlement in Bangladesh's capital, Dhaka. The fire destroyed or damaged around 1,500 homes. The photograph shows a family of five sleeping together amid the remaining walls of their burnt home.
The image captures the strength of family bonds and human resilience despite homelessness, poverty and destruction. It also reflects the competition's central theme of "Family", linked to the United Arab Emirates' designation of 2026 as the Year of the Family.
Rahman works in the cybersecurity department of a bank in Bangladesh, while photography is his passion. He has previously received recognition in international photography competitions, but has become the first Bangladeshi photographer to win the grand prize in Dubai.
A total of $1 million in prize money was distributed across various categories of this year's Hamdan International Photography Award. Photographers from the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Palestine and other countries also received recognition.
According to the organisers, the international competition aims to highlight human stories, social realities and cultures from around the world through photography. Rahman's achievement demonstrates how a single photograph can convey a message of human suffering, hope and family love to a global audience.