With 14,841 entries from 111 countries across 5 continents, the Xposure International Photography Festival has registered its highest number of applications ever submitted in its 4-year history.

Submissions have come in from faraway quarters of Saint Lucia and Mongolia in Asia; tiny Caribbean islands like Saint Vincent and the Grenadines and Dominica; Burkina Faso, Ethiopia and Madagascar spanning the African continent from the west to the east; and several other unique locations from around the world.  

Xposure 2019, organised by the Sharjah Government Media Bureau (SGMB), takes place at Expo Centre Sharjah from Sept.19-22.

Compared to Xposure’s 2018 submission statistics, there have been 2,238 more entries this year, submitted by 4,445 photographers from around the world.

Among the 11 categories opened for contest, Portrait & People has assumed the top spot with 4,715 entries, followed by 2,994 in Nature & Landscape.

Among the top three this year is the Mobile Photography category with 1,598 entries reflecting the rapidly increasing popularity of this art form among amateur photographers.

Photojournalism continues to maintain its popularity with 1,250 entries; Architectural Photography is next with 1,175 submissions.

Best of the Emirates has received 463 entries; the exclusive category dedicated to employees in Sharjah’s Government entities – Sharjah Government Open –tallied at 96; Night Photography has closed registrations with 927 entries; while Short Film & Moving Image has clocked 104 applications.  

As many as 1,217 entries will be competing for the Timothy Allen scholarship this year.

 “Xposure is a bold endeavour to bring the spotlight on voices, experiences and perspectives of people from every possible background, to present the most stirring photography of our times under one roof, while bringing the world’s best photographers and industry newbies right next to each other, and offer our visitors a one-of-its-kind opportunity to see the beauty as well as the realities of the world they live in,” said Tariq Saeed Allay, Director of Sharjah Government Media Bureau (SGMB).

“The introduction of new countries on Xposure’s list of submissions every year is a testament to the growing influence of photography as a means of artistic expression for people in today’s digital age. The increasing cultural diversity of submissions means that Xposure is becoming more popular and effective as a platform for drawing people’s attention to emerging artistic excellence and new creative horizons as well as issues of social interest, which may have missed the public eye,” added the Director of SGMB.

 “The fruits of Bureau’s efforts are reflected in the increasing eagerness and enthusiasm of both well-established and emerging photographers to use our platform to articulate their artistic and social messages and creativity. Many entries this year have come in from countries that are undergoing severe humanitarian crises in the form of armed conflicts, epidemic outbreaks, and more. One of Xposure’s core objectives is to inspire social change by increasing awareness about today’s pressing realities. We are pleased that this year we will be achieving this important goal once again,” emphasised Allay.

Five continents represented in the competition, namely, Africa, Asia, Europe, and North and South Americas, have bumped up submissions compared to 2018.

South America has recorded a 165 per cent increase with 368 entries this year vis-à-vis 139 in 2018.  Entries from Europe have increased by 37.6 per cent with 3,147 submissions from 43 countries.

As many as 45 countries are representing the Asian continent with 9,433 entries – a 12 per cent rise compared to 2018.  While there have been 849 entries from 33 nations in Africa, reflecting an 18.4 per cent increase, the Oceanic region is represented by 139 entries from 4 nations.

The names of winning photographers who make the Xposure 2019 cut will be announced on September 22, during the closing ceremony of the festival.