The globally anticipated fifth edition of the four-day Xposure International Photography Festival raised the curtain today (Wednesday) morning, in the presence of His Highness Sheikh Abdullah bin Salem bin Sultan Al Qasimi, Deputy Ruler of Sharjah; and Sheikh Sultan bin Ahmed Al Qasimi, Chairman, Sharjah Media Council (SMC).

Organised by the Sharjah Government Media Bureau (SGMB), Xposure 2021 runs until February 13 in Expo Centre Sharjah, and has brought 1,558 of the best works of 400 renowned and emerging photographers from around the world to Sharjah, offering the UAE yet another opportunity to engage with powerful visual narratives representing diverse genres of the art form.

The opening ceremony began in spectacular style with a powerful video highlighting the importance of images, and celebrated the great passion of skilled lens professionals who go to greatest lengths and often risk their lives to open our eyes to the realities of the world.

Sheikh Sultan bin Ahmed Al Qasimi, Chairman of SMC, further emphasised on this message in his welcome address, as he lauded,“The unparalleled struggles of photographers who leave their families behind to face the unknown in search of a moment, which they immortalise through their lenses.”

“Through our examination of modern history, we see the instrumental role of photographs in highlighting the needlessness of war and in alleviating people’s sufferings. Other images have helped bring wild species back from the brink of extinction, rallied behind environmental causes, and climate change. Xposure is a celebration of every skilled photography professional in the world who wields their camera to document an event, and in the process, the photograph transforms into one. A picture is worth a thousand words and tells an important story… Each story has the power to influence change…” the SMC Chairman added.

Noting that, “The organising team aimed for this edition [of Xposure] to carry exceptional messages as, together, we pass through an exceptional phase”, Sheikh Sultan bin Ahmed Al Qasimi welcomed photography professionals, hobbyists and lovers of art and culture to come enjoy this exceptional festival, “without fear or worry”, adding: “Through the participating photographers and their works, this is Xposure’s message: We are bound by hope and are confident of humankind’s capacity to always overcome unprecedented challenges.”

Brent Stirton, Giles Duley and Elia Locardi stress on photography “as a tool for change”

Among the 51 regional and international photographers who are leading the Xposure 2021 programme, Brent Stirton, South African photographer with an extensive history in the documentary world; internationally acclaimed professional travel photographer, writer, and educator, Elia Locardi; and English documentary photographer and writer, Giles Duley, shared their stories through impactful presentations of their work over the past decades.

Stirton looked back on the 10 months he spent last year, during which he chronicled the global illegal meat trade, “Every year an excess of 40 million kilograms of wild meat is brought into Kinshasa, the capital of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).”

Showing the audience an image of a young hunter in DRC with a sack of 55 – 60 monkeys, another one of bat collectors ferrying their catch on the Congo river, and a few photos he took of people in America who practise hunting as a sport passed down generations, Brent noted: “This is where zoonotic diseases come from… This is why we are wearing masks today. We need to create stricter laws against the sale of illegal wild species for human consumption.”

He also said that funding for wildlife and environmental conversation efforts has been badly affected since the outbreak of COVID-19, saying: “These are the side-effects of the pandemic.”

Renowned world travel photographer and producer Elia Locardi who has flown 2 million miles around the globe visiting over 65 nations to satiate his curiosity for exploring the unknown – people, places, cultures – made the first public announcement of his brand new project ‘Moments in Time’, a world-wide massive scale show chronicling Elia’s travels in motion.

“Moments in Time amplifies the voices of other people so they can tell their stories as well,” said Elia, adding: “Photography is an element that unites us, that transcends cultures, religion, or beliefs. It has united me with people all around the world. What I would like you all to think about is, photography can be a tool for change, not just for observation.”

The final talk was by Giles Duley, who lost both his legs and an arm as he stepped on a landmine while on assignment in Afghanistan in 2011.

“As a photographer, I was always driven by curiosity. I wanted to know what lay beyond. Yesterday I watched the news, and a photographer did exactly that. A photographer went to capture images never seen. That photographer was the Probe called Hope,” Duley said as he opened his presentation congratulating the UAE on the incredible achievement of being the fifth country in the world to have led a successful Mars mission.

Duley went on to share three formative experiences he had with three incredible women – Shama, Khuloud and Debrahwhile documenting the refugee crisis in Syria, Lebanon, and South Sudan, respectively. He spoke of the incredible amount of hope they gave him despite living in despair, and life lessons he took away from these resilient individuals were like rays of light, pushing him through on the darkest of days as he tried to overcome personal struggles he faced with his disability.

Duley said:, “I go to some of the worst places you could imagine, but what do I find there? I find a grandmother feeding her grandson, I find a father on the floor teaching his children math, I see families who stay together no matter what.”

“I realised I was not a war photographer. I document love, I choose to document not war, but love” he added emphasising that through his career of photographing lives of people living in the harshest conditions, he has learnt to be thankful for what he has and not lose hope over what he doesn’t.

After the opening ceremony, His Highness Sheikh Abdullah bin Salem bin Sultan Al Qasimi, Deputy Ruler of Sharjah;was escorted on a tour of the festival, during which he took a close look at the works of participating photographers and listened to the human and aesthetic dimensions of each image.

Through the four-day event, Xposure will run 54 exhibitions, 21 panel discussions, 10 workshops presented by seven international photographers, 14 expert-led portfolio reviews, and 10 in-focus groups.

Xposure is held this year to support photographers and assert their importance of their works and messages while enforcing precautionary measures, including limiting the number of persons at the venue to 2,000 at any given point, restricting participants at workshops to 20 persons at a time, temperature checks at all entry points, detailed cleaning procedures, and strict social distancing policies. The safety protocols being implemented at the venue prioritise visitors’ safety in strict adherence to UAE guidelines.