Organised by the Sharjah Government Media Bureau (SGMB), Xposure 2026 will celebrate photography, filmmaking, and visual arts in an immersive, knowledge-driven and culturally rich way for a week, until February 4. The festival features a wide-ranging agenda featuring 95 exhibitions, 3,200 artworks, and more than 570 visual events.

The opening ceremony will feature a keynote address by Haris Doukas, Mayor of Athens, marking the Greek capital’s participation as Guest of Honour for the festival’s landmark 10th edition. This programme will beautifully display the historic city’s centuries-old heritage, cultural transformations, and collective memory. A dedicated pavilion will showcase more than 140 artworks by six artists.


Greece’s participation strengthens Xposure’s renewed focus on cultural exchange through its newly structured thematic zones.

A Decade of Visual Storytelling

Held under the theme “A Decade of Visual Storytelling”, Xposure 2026 reflects the festival’s evolution over ten years into an international gathering of more than 420 photographers, filmmakers and visual artists from over 60 countries. The programme includes 126 talks and panel discussions, 72 workshops and 280 portfolio review sessions led by international experts, alongside a comprehensive film programme and a global trade exhibition featuring leading brands and companies specialising in imaging and visual content technologies.

This year’s edition is structured around 12 dedicated thematic zones, collectively mapping the Xposure visual experience and organising exhibitions and programmes across clearly defined storytelling disciplines. These zones include People and Portraiture; Sports and Action Photography; Oceans and Water Conservation; Athens; Documentary Photography; Travel and Adventure Photography; Nature and Wildlife; The Global Focus Project (GFP); Fine Art and Creative Expression Photography; Photojournalism, addressing social issues, wars and tragedies; The Independent and Freelance Photojournalist Award (IFPA) zone, and the Courtyard zone.

World-class photographers under one roof

Xposure 2026 brings together leading international photographers and visual artists whose work spans photojournalism, documentary practice, nature and wildlife, travel, sport and fine art. Featured participants include David Burnett and Morten Qvale; Joshua Holko, Marco Ronconi, Mohammad Anabtawi and Simon King; Dan Kitwood, Virginie Ellis, Yousuf Ahmed and Richard I'Anson; as well as Derry Brabbs and Mostafa Ajjawi.

The festival also showcases a strong fine art and creative line-up, including Christoffer Relander, Rashed Alsumaiti, Leslie Smolan who will represent the work of the late photographer Rodney Smith, Richard Le Manz, Romany Hafez, Cath Simard, Hengki Koentjoro, Pauline Planchon, Julian Calverley, Christian Houge, Dmitry Ersler, Ghada Al Qasimi, Liam Man, Riccardo Magherini, Lucia Giacani, Andrey Gudkov, and Andreas Urscheler.

Environmental storytelling will take centre stage at Xposure 2026 through the Conservation Summit, to be held on 2 February under the theme “Troubled Waters”. The summit brings together leading photographers, scientists, and ocean explorers to examine practical solutions for protecting marine ecosystems, addressing escalating pressures from industrial activity, pollution, overfishing and climate change.

The programme underscores the oceans’ critical role as the planet’s first line of defence against climate change, absorbing the majority of excess heat and a significant share of global carbon emissions, while highlighting the growing risks threatening marine biodiversity. Through talks, panel discussions and visual narratives, the summit positions photography and film as powerful tools for scientific communication, public awareness and policy dialogue, reinforcing Xposure’s commitment to using visual storytelling to confront global environmental challenges.

Xposure Awards mark record global participation

Xposure continues to strengthen its international standing through its Photography and Film Awards, with the 2026 edition recording the highest participation in the awards’ history. The competition received 29,000 photography submissions and 634 film entries from more than 60 countries, across a wide range of specialist photography categories as well as short film, documentary features, visual effects, and cinematic arts.

Open to the public, Xposure 2026 welcomes photographers, filmmakers, students, professionals and visual arts enthusiasts to a dynamic experience combining exhibitions, dialogue, and hands-on learning. Full programme details and updates are available at www.xposure.net.