Sultan Bin Ahmed honours winners of Xposure Awards

Gulf Today, Staff Reporter

Sheikh Sultan Bin Ahmed Al Qasimi, Deputy Ruler of Sharjah, and Chairman of Sharjah Media Council (SMC), honoured winners of the 6th edition of Xposure International Photography and Short Film Awards during a special ceremony held on Monday, February 14, at Expo Centre Sharjah.

Omani photographer Qasim Al Farsi was announced as the overall winner for his brilliant aerial shot of a green turtle heading back to the water after laying eggs on the coast near Ras Al Jinz in eastern Oman.

In the presence of Tariq Saeed Allay, Director General of Sharjah Government Media Bureau, and Alya Al Suwaidi, Director of Sharjah Goverement Media Bureau, the winners and runners-up in 10 diverse categories were honoured at the Xposure International Photography Festival, which concludes on 15 February at Expo Centre Sharjah.

Organised by the Sharjah Government Media Bureau (SGMB), the 2021-2022 edition of the global Xposure Awards attracted 14,988 submissions from 126 countries.

Announcing the winners in the 10 categories, distinguished jury member Ray Wells, former Picture Editor of The Sunday Times, said: “For six years now, Xposure International Photography & Short Film Awards have been a powerful force in nurturing creative expression through the medium of photography. The Awards have grown in stature over the years – the numbers of entries are on the rise, and the images we receive demonstrate the quality and potential of artists in capturing amazing moments. I congratulate each of the winners at the sixth edition of the awards and I thank you all for sharing your stories.”

Malaysian photographer Patricia Soon won the first prize for her monochromatic rendition titled, ‘The Wings of an Angel’ while Iran’s Sara Goli was adjudged runner-up for the precise composition and minimal tonality in her work, ‘Waiting for Hope’.

Saudi photographer Talib Almarri was named winner in the Drone category for his ‘Hippopotamus Group From Above’ taken from the air at 90 degrees while Russia’s Maksim Tarasov secured runner-up position for ‘The Eye’.

SHARJAH GOVERNMENT EMPLOYEES CATEGORY: Mohamed Noufal won in this category for ‘Over The Shadows’, a serene timeless vision of calm that shows the scale of the desert while in the runner-up position was Kim Ballesteros’s ‘The Future Is Lit’.

Tanisha Sharma, a budding conceptual photographer from the UAE, won first place for her beautifully composed ‘Colourful Pallete’ that cleverly combines colour, structure, and texture into a very appealing collage. Deep Bhatia was named runner-up for the minimal colour palette and silhouetted forms in ‘Desert Ship’.

Italian photographer Roksolyana Hilevych scooped the first prize for her stunning image titled, ‘Pray For Earth’, which beautifully frames sky, rock and water in a poetic composition while Marco Daniele Calandra from Sweden was awarded the runner-up prize for his entry, ‘The Perfect Night’.

An image that showcased the courage of both the subject and the photographer earned the top spot for Belarusian Yerchak Yauhen for ‘Protest Has A Woman Face’, while Turkish Mehmet Aslan was named runner-up for his work, ‘Hard Life’, a simply composed photo of a father and son that resonates vitality, resilience and love.

Supratim Bhattacharjee was announced winner of the Portraiture category for his photo titled ‘Sinking Sundarbans’ that depicts the depth of anguish of a young girl and the disaster that surrounds her, while the runner-up position was awarded to Argentinan Rodrigo Illescas for his Untitled #7 from the series ‘The Cathedrals Of Nostalgia’.

Rahmeh Al Shmmas, from Jordan, won the top spot for ‘Hidden Pronouns’, a moving documentary in which people bravely talk of what it is like to live without being able to read or write, and how becoming literate has since changed their lives. Fellow countryman Asim Tareq was named runner-up for his work, ‘Broken Roots’.

Md. Arifuzzaman from Bangladesh was named winner in the Travel category for ‘The Story of Preserving Heritage’, a fascinating photo showing the fast-disappearing traditional craft of repairing wooden boats. Ping Liu from China was named runner-up for ‘Selected’, a perfectly balanced dramatic shot of a Mongolian herdsman framed by magnificent white horses at full gallop.

Canadian Thomas Vijayan won first place in the Wildlife category for ‘The World Is Going Upside Down’, a captivating shot of the world’s largest arboreal mammal – and one of its most endangered, while Weinong Duan from China secured second place for her photo titled ‘Prey’.