Success in photography is the ability to produce outstanding images rather than achieving commercial success selling them, stressed Gabriel Wickbold, one of the brightest young photographers from Brazil.  The artist and gallerist was addressing a crowd of photography enthusiasts at a seminar on the second day of the fourth edition of the XPOSURE 2019 International Photography Festival, the region’s biggest photography event taking place at Expo Centre Sharjah.

Encouraging youngsters to look at photography as an art, Wickbold said: “As artists, we need emotion to connect with people. Every piece of work that I did, involved a lot of struggle. I spent as much as two years working on each project.”

His photographic projects reflect passion and energy, and he wants new photographers to cultivate the same passion and energy in every effort they make in photography.

Wickbold is not dazzled by the commercial acceptance of his work. He feels that being able to express oneself through the complexity of the image is fundamental to the success of every work. He is motivated by the aspect of photography where photography and art, and fantasy and art come together to offer a highly inspiring experience.

As an artist, Wickbold uses photography to talk about the body, nature, ageing, connectivity and light. His art arose from the desire to explore the complexity of human experience by mixing fantasy and reality in a way that engages viewers differently than traditional photography.

“In creativity, we have to work within a square. But when I work in artistic expressions with paint and body, I know everything is possible within the square of limitations.”

Wickbold feels modern photography is focused on the perfection of the human body. Making a statement in favour of preserving scars, he said: “We need to embrace our scars because we have gained from our scars, and every single scar has made us more resilient. We really need to think about how important these scars are in our lives and how they make us who we are as a person. That is why I want to focus on the beauty of scars.”

Wickbold played a video showcasing his Sans Tache project, which explores the negative stigma linked to aging; Naïve, his bold experiment projecting the eternal connection between man and nature and emphasising the intense relationship between life and art; and finally the ‘I Am Online’, series that focuses on what he describes as the digital “suffocation” of people’s lives today through the internet and social media, portraying the suffocation of people by excess of virtual relationship.

Organised by the Sharjah Government Media Bureau (SGMB), four-day XPOSURE 2019 has curated 1,112 works by 357 photographers from around the world. The event, which runs until Sunday 22nd September, offers amateurs, professionals and hobbyists in the UAE a unique opportunity to hear from 53 leading names in the industry, who have flown into Sharjah with their finest works and awe-inspiring experiences.