Sharjah's Xposure Photography Festival open for 2024 season entries

There is a category solely for UAE residents and another for budding young photographers

The seventh Xposure International Photography Festival took place in February in Sharjah. Antonie Robertson / The National

Sharjah’s Xposure International Photography Festival is now accepting entries for its next International Photography and Film Awards.

The annual competition is returning for its eighth event next year. The festival and its awards component received more than 17,000 submissions from 180 countries this year. Organisers say they recorded an 80 per cent increase in submissions compared with previous years.

Amateur and professional photographers are invited to submit work to the competition before October 30. Photographers can submit up to 10 images or films in one of the categories.

These include Architectural Photography, Drone Photography, Nature and Landscape, Photojournalism, Portraiture, Street Photography, Short Film and Moving Image. Two categories have also been created in collaboration with Samsung, including Night Photography and Mobile Photography.

One person will also be named overall winner of the competition, receiving a $6,000 prize. Category winners will receive $3,000, whereas runners-up will be awarded $1,500. The top five entries in each category will also be displayed in an exhibition during the festival.

A category is also dedicated to UAE residents. The Junior category is open to amateurs who dabble in stills, whether captured on phone, DSLR or mirrorless cameras. The entries must have been photographed in the past three years. The highest-rated seven works will be exhibited at Xposure 2024. Equipment prizes will be awarded to first and second-place winners.

“Xposure is a globally recognised platform for celebrating photography, film and other visual mediums,” says Tariq Saeed Allay, director general of Sharjah Government Media Bureau.

“The annual celebration has created prolific new opportunities for up-and-coming photographers and visual artists to showcase themselves and highlight their careers.”