Professional photographers capture a moment in time, freezing that instance for the world to dwell upon and introspect. This shot does what words fail to do. With their expert eyes, photographers find the right moment in time and freeze it within time and history. Images have an immense power that triumphs words as its universal and breaks the barriers of geography and languages.
Themed “Inspiring Moments,” this year’s International Photography Festival “Xposure” will take place from November 21 – 24 at Sharjah Expo Centre. The platform celebrates photographers’ work and creativity by offering a stage to showcase their moments of beauty, justice, goodness, and issues that influences lives.
Creativity in the Spotlight at Xposure 2017
Faces of Egypt
The Egyptian photographer of Korean origin Abdel Rahman Gabr took a heartfelt picture of a villager embracing his camel. In his project entitled, “Faces of Egypt,” he captured the essence of the Egyptian society culture. The nuances are reflected in the aesthetics and elements of the photograph. Gabr captured the villager, ‘Hajjaj’ standing beside his camel, which reflects the relationship between an Egyptian man and his surrounding environment. Gabr described Hajjaj as a family man who spends quality time with his wife and children and dedicates the same quality time to his camels. Gabr excelled in capturing the details of the faces while keeping the background slightly blurred.
War through the eyes of Marcus Bleasdale
This is an image that sheds light on the dark side of war. Away from heavy gunfire on the streets of the Democratic Republic of the Congo during the civil war in 1993, the English photographer Marcus Bleasdale captured a photo of a child fighting with Mayi Mayi militia group in Kanyabayonga, a town in Congo. The child looked at the camera confidently and fearlessly harboured a smile, as described by the international press.
Through the picture, Bleasdale described the horrors of war in the country and the tragedy of child-soldiers used by armed forces. He contrasted beauty and horror. The artist captured innocence and calls for stopping violations against children around the world, especially in conflicted countries.
The Manifestation of Joy
Happiness can be found in the littlest of things. This is what Palestinian photographer Muhammad Muheisen says through his photo of children in Afghanistan playing in an asylum camp in the Pakistani city of Islamabad. The joy of children is well translated into the photo.
World newspapers published this photo along with photos of other children in the same place. Whether children are living in refugee camps or in other difficult situations, they are still children. Their feelings and sincerity supersede any surrounding circumstances as they play and find ways to enjoy life. They can innovate, overcome challenges, and invent games from stones, sticks and balloons to create small moments of joy and happiness.
When Man Becomes Ruthless
Humans kill and destroy animal communities on a daily basis. Recently, Ol Pejeta Conservancy in Kenya, Africa announced the death of another male white rhinoceros, pushing its existence to ‘the near threatened’ species. The white rhinoceros was largely wiped out as a result of poaching and illegal trade.
In his photo, ’Memorial to a Species,’ South African photojournalist Brent Stirton, winner of the prestigious grand title of the 2007 Wildlife Photographer of the Year competition, which was held at London’s Natural History Museum, framed a recently shot and de-horned black rhino in South Africa’s Hluhluwe Imfolozi Game Reserve. The photo supported a thorough investigation launched by the National Geographic Network on poaching and illegal trading of rhinoceros’s horns to make profits. Hunters who were responsible for this crime are believed to have trapped the rhinoceros in a water hole and killed it, before they cut off its horn.
A Hero
Sports derive from faith, passion, and incredible strength. For people with disabilities, physical activities can be a challenge. Since ancient times, Greeks have established one of the most international championships: The Olympic Games. Following that, the second most important tournament would be the Paralympic Games, which is a major international multi-sport event, involving physically disabled athletes who have incredible strength and diligence to not let their disability define them. Today, photographers celebrate these champions by immortalising their moments through photography.
This picture was taken by the multi-award-winning sports photographer Bob Martin, who shot Spanish swimmer Avi Torres as he set off to start the 200m freestyle heats at the Paralympic Games in Athens, Greece in 2004. The moment was brilliantly captured showcasing Avi leaving his legs behind, as well as his ‘perceived’ disability, to achieve excellence, self-confidence, and determination.
Paul Nicklen and the Salmon Hunter
In this exceptionally rare moment, National Geographic photographer Paul Nicklen takes us on a trip into the icy wonderlands of the Arctic, Canadian wild, and other areas. The Canadian filmmaker and biologist roams around the world discovering unknown spaces and navigates through unique environments to capture images of animals with all the natural elements present, without relenting, no matter the danger.
During his speech at the second edition of Xposure International Photography Festival, Nicklen described his trip where he captured this image titled, ‘Submerged Beauty.’ He said that bears often chase salmon upstream and downstream. One day, the bear was looking for a fish in a river in Yukon city, Northern Canada and suddenly emerged out of the shallow water. That was the moment captured. Yukon is one of the natural reserves of gray bears in the country.
Exceptional Beauty Underwater
Ali Bin Thalith, Secretary-General of the Hamdan Bin Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum International Photography Award (HIPA), is an acclaimed professional underwater photographer. He has been credited with a number of documentaries such as: ‘Green Mountain Trip,’ in addition to four episodes of the ‘Masirah Island,’ Oman, covering the period from 2003 to 2008; and ‘Alyasat and Alhalaniyat Island,’ Oman, among others. He received acclaim for his images of exceptionally beautiful and unheard species that live in the depths of the ocean.
One of his most notable works is a photo he took of a 60-year old Asian elephant (Elephas Maximus) named Rajan. Asian elephants are the most unexpected animals to see swimming in the ocean. Rajan seems to have found enjoyment in swimming with tourists as part of his retirement plan, and Bin Thalith has surely captured the moment in a beautiful shot.
Horizon of Time
Swiss artist Fabian Oefner, an internationally recognised Swiss artist who mostly works out of his studio near Zurich, Switzerland, has carved out his reputation by fusing the fields of art and science, creating images appealing to heart and mind. His projects are often about showing scientific phenomena in an unusual and poetic way and therefore invite the viewer to stop for a moment and appreciate the beauty that is constantly surrounding us.
Some of his most notable works are ’Infinity,’ ‘Momentum’ and ’Disintegrating,’ all of which are characterised by the use of time as the fourth dimension in the images. The ’Infinity’ collection includes unique images showing a bullet going through an antique vase, where the photographer took 32 frames of different angles to show different dimensions of the vase.
