Sharjah's Xposure International Photography Festival 2022: five things to not miss

The sixth Xposure International Photography Festival will begin its week-long run on February 9 in Sharjah. Set to present more than 55 world-renowned photographers, the event will include exhibitions, talks, workshops and equipment stalls aimed at professionals and enthusiasts alike.

The festival’s talks programme covers various topics and issues in photography, with established photographers sharing insights into their process or delving into the ethical issues of war reportage and documenting climate change. All talks are open to the public and visitors can register for tickets online.

Scroll through the gallery above for some of the works being displayed at Xposure International Photography Festival.

The workshops, the prices for which range from $15 (Dh55) to $125 (Dh460), are equally varied. There are more technical and process-driven workshops centred on focal length, time-lapse, picture editing and composition, while others will take on harnessing creativity and developing the right approach to one’s subjects.

Here are five photographers to see at the Xposure photo festival:

Muhammed Muheisen

A two-time Pulitzer Prize winner, Muhammed Muheisen is known for his photographs covering the refugee crisis around the world, including Afghans in Pakistan and Syrians in Jordan who have been displaced because of the conflicts in their respective countries.

At Xposure, Muheisen is hosting a workshop titled Moments in Time, which examines aspects of visual storytelling, including the photographer’s relationship with his or her subjects. The Jerusalem-born Jordanian photographer will talk about building trust and maintaining integrity in one’s practice, including how to navigate the ethics of photography and respecting the subjects’ privacy. Moments in Time will take place on Thursday.

Diego Ibarra Sanchez

In his work, Spanish documentary photographer and filmmaker Diego Ibarra Sanchez, who lives and works in Lebanon, is determined to highlight the humanity of his subjects, no matter how violent the topic.

His projects have examined the Kafala system in Lebanon, which leaves migrant workers vulnerable to abuse; the legacy of the Yazidi genocide inflicted by ISIS in Iraq; and the horrific conditions of mental patients in Pakistan and Afghanistan.

Sanchez’s workshop on February 14 will teach photographers how to produce their own long-term photo project, from developing a storytelling process to choosing the right perspective to tell the story successfully.

Biljana Jurukovski

Since childhood, Biljana Jurukovski has cultivated an interest in different cultures. This is reflected in her body of work, which primarily focuses on portraits of individuals from tribes in Ethiopia, Angola, Mongolia and South Sudan.

The Macedonian-Australian photographer has been published in magazines around the world and has earned several awards throughout her career.

For her talk, The journey of self discovery through photography, on Wednesday at Xposure, Jurukovski will talk about her path to becoming a photographer, from working in the healthcare sector in Australia to deciding to pursue photography full-time in 2014 and travelling to remote areas around the world for her images.

Jana Andert

War photography wasn’t in Jana Andert’s career plans. She had worked as a fashion photographer for six years before studying human psychology. In time, her studies led her to consider humanitarian issues, including the refugee crisis in war-torn countries. After visiting a refugee camp in Iraq, Andert's interest expanded to the conflicts that fuelled the crisis in the first place. She spent eight months on the frontline of the battle of Mosul, producing the documentary film Inside Mosul, released in 2018.

At Xposure, the Czech photographer and videographer will talk to journalist Ray Wells about her time in Mosul and the Iraqi Special Operations Forces that led the attacks against ISIS after the terrorist group took over parts of Iraq in 2014.

Her seminar Inside the War on ISIS is taking place as part of Xposure's Auditorium Events on February 9.

Alain Schroeder

With a career spanning four decades, Alain Schroeder is a multi-award winning photographer from Belgium whose images focus on social issues and the people affected by them.

His documentary photography has shed light on many corners of the world and pockets of society. He has photographed coal miners in Ukraine, kok boru festivalgoers in Kyrgyzstan, orangutan conservationists in Indonesia, ageing “grandma” divers in South Korea and women from New York’s most affluent neighbourhoods.

On February 14, Schroeder will speak about the making of two projects: his coverage of orangutan conservation efforts in Indonesia and the training of child jockeys, also in Indonesia. The photographer will take audiences through his process, from developing the idea for the works, finding the right subjects and locations, as well as the challenges he faced along the way.

Xposure International Photography Festival will take place from February 9 to 15 at Expo Centre Sharjah. More information is at xposure.ae

'Worse than a prison sentence'

Marie Byrne, a counsellor who volunteers at the UAE government's mental health crisis helpline, said the ordeal the crew had been through would take time to overcome.

“It was worse than a prison sentence, where at least someone can deal with a set amount of time incarcerated," she said.

“They were living in perpetual mystery as to how their futures would pan out, and what that would be.

“Because of coronavirus, the world is very different now to the one they left, that will also have an impact.

“It will not fully register until they are on dry land. Some have not seen their young children grow up while others will have to rebuild relationships.

“It will be a challenge mentally, and to find other work to support their families as they have been out of circulation for so long. Hopefully they will get the care they need when they get home.”

RESULT

Manchester City 1 Sheffield United 0
Man City: Jesus (9')

Will the pound fall to parity with the dollar?

The idea of pound parity now seems less far-fetched as the risk grows that Britain may split away from the European Union without a deal.

Rupert Harrison, a fund manager at BlackRock, sees the risk of it falling to trade level with the dollar on a no-deal Brexit. The view echoes Morgan Stanley’s recent forecast that the currency can plunge toward $1 (Dh3.67) on such an outcome. That isn’t the majority view yet – a Bloomberg survey this month estimated the pound will slide to $1.10 should the UK exit the bloc without an agreement.

New Prime Minister Boris Johnson has repeatedly said that Britain will leave the EU on the October 31 deadline with or without an agreement, fuelling concern the nation is headed for a disorderly departure and fanning pessimism toward the pound. Sterling has fallen more than 7 per cent in the past three months, the worst performance among major developed-market currencies.

“The pound is at a much lower level now but I still think a no-deal exit would lead to significant volatility and we could be testing parity on a really bad outcome,” said Mr Harrison, who manages more than $10 billion in assets at BlackRock. “We will see this game of chicken continue through August and that’s likely negative for sterling,” he said about the deadlocked Brexit talks.

The pound fell 0.8 per cent to $1.2033 on Friday, its weakest closing level since the 1980s, after a report on the second quarter showed the UK economy shrank for the first time in six years. The data means it is likely the Bank of England will cut interest rates, according to Mizuho Bank.

The BOE said in November that the currency could fall even below $1 in an analysis on possible worst-case Brexit scenarios. Options-based calculations showed around a 6.4 per cent chance of pound-dollar parity in the next one year, markedly higher than 0.2 per cent in early March when prospects of a no-deal outcome were seemingly off the table.

Bloomberg