His Highness Sheikh Sultan bin Ahmed bin Sultan Al Qasimi, Deputy Ruler of Sharjah and Chairman of the Sharjah Media Council, attended on Wednesday evening the closing ceremony of the 10th edition of Xposure International Photography Festival, which attracted 34,000 visitors over its run, including photographers, filmmakers, visual arts enthusiasts of various disciplines, and those interested in the field of photography. The ceremony was held at the Photography Gallery in Al Manakh area.
His Highness honoured the winners of the Xposure Legacy Awards, launched for the first time as part of the festival’s 10th edition, reflecting Xposure’s direction toward establishing the image as a sustainable knowledge asset that goes beyond aesthetic value to cultural and impactful dimensions. The Noor Ali Rashid Legacy Award for Documentary Vision, which recognises documentary exhibitions addressing humanitarian and social issues with honesty and responsibility, was awarded to Giles Clarke for his exhibition ‘A Decade Documenting Humanitarian Crises’.
The Chairman of the Sharjah Media Council also honoured the winner of the Saleh Al Ustad Legacy Award for Creative Photography, which celebrates creative excellence and artistic innovation in photography. It was awarded to Dmitry Ersler for the exhibition ‘Russia at Dusk’. The BEEAH Award for Environmental and Conservation Photography, sponsored by BEEAH, was awarded to Greg Lecoeur for his exhibition ‘A Vibrant Sea’.
The Xposure Legacy Awards are a new cultural initiative launched by the festival this year and are granted exclusively to exhibitions participating in this edition. They recognise exhibitions that celebrate visual storytelling as a long-term knowledge resource. The awards are divided into three main categories and follow a dual evaluation model combining public engagement and expert critical assessment.
His Highness also honoured partners and sponsors of the 10th edition of Xposure from government entities and private companies, in appreciation of their active role in supporting the festival, contributing to the success of its programmes and activities, and strengthening its position as a leading global platform in photography and visual content creation.
This year’s closing ceremony marked the culmination of an exceptional edition that reinforced Xposure’s status as a global platform that goes beyond being a festival for displaying photographs and films, becoming a living space for raising global awareness of pressing humanitarian, environmental, and social issues through panel discussions, film screenings, and diverse visual storytelling experiences. Xposure opened audiences’ eyes to global transformations and gave photographers and filmmakers space to exchange real-world stories through a cross-cultural visual language.
The festival’s role extended beyond showcasing international experiences, as it also created an inspiring educational environment through specialised workshops that helped develop the skills of students, amateurs, and photography and filmmaking enthusiasts. It provided the new generation of visual storytellers with practical and knowledge-based tools to move from passion to professionalism through direct learning from leading international experts.
With the conclusion of its 10th edition, Xposure draws the curtain on a phase of foundation and growth while opening a new horizon for its future role as a global platform for visual dialogue, an incubator for contemporary human narratives, and a space for building awareness of the image as a soft power capable of creating real impact in understanding the world and reshaping how it is told.
On the sidelines of the ceremony, the Deputy Ruler of Sharjah visited the exhibition Photographic Encounters Along the Gulf Coasts, which features 165 photographs and archival documents from the collection of His Highness Sheikh Dr Sultan bin Mohammed Al Qasimi, Supreme Council Member and Ruler of Sharjah. The exhibition represents a starting point for exploring the role of photography in understanding and interpreting history.
Attending the ceremony alongside His Highness were Khaled Al Huraimel, CEO of BEEAH; Idris Mohammed Al Rafi, CEO of Invest bank; Mohammed Hassan Khalaf, Director General of Sharjah Broadcasting Authority; Tariq Saeed Allay, Director General of Sharjah Government Media Bureau; Hassan Yaqoub Al Mansouri, Secretary-General of the Sharjah Media Council; Abdullah Abdulrahman Al Shamsi, Director General of Sharjah Electricity, Water and Gas Authority; a number of senior officials; representatives of sponsoring entities and partners; and a large gathering of photographers and visual arts enthusiasts.