"Exposure 2026" It gives the image its human role "Photojournalism"
Sharjah, 7 January / WAM / The International Photography Festival – Xposure 2026, organized by the Sharjah Government Media Office in the Aljada area from January 29 to February 4, presents works specialized in photojournalism that document the impact of humanitarian crises as seen from the field, including photographs that follow the course of crises extending over years and live coverage that accompanied migrants on their dangerous journeys across borders. In addition to works that monitor the scars that wars and disasters leave on people and places, within the framework of the participation of a group of international photojournalists who worked in high-risk environments to present the image as a document that helps the public understand what is happening in various parts of the world.
The field of “photojournalism” aims to clarify the dimensions of this function as a documentation tool by dividing it into two sub-axes, namely “Social Issues” and “Humanitarian Conflicts and Crises,” providing an organized visual narrative that explains what is behind the image, the causes, results, and the humanitarian cost that may not appear in the headlines.
The Social Issues section includes photographers who have worked on projects spanning years that focused on people in their daily context, including Ricardo Lopez, a documentary photographer based in Lisbon, who moved from news coverage to long-term visual investigations, tracking the impact of economic and environmental transformations on societies.
Through her project, Generation Mandela of Hope, Elfie Ngyukitikine participates. Elfie follows the lives of young people facing unequal economic realities, while Carol Allen-Storey presents works that document the lives of communities affected by conflict and disease.
Kiana Hairi is an Iranian-Canadian photographer who lived for eight years in Kabul, documenting the details of daily life in Afghanistan, especially the experiences of women and adolescents. Her works earned her prominent international awards, including the Robert Capa Gold Medal.
In the migration file, Olivier Gubart presents a different experience, as he accompanies migrants on their dangerous journeys, transforming migration from statistics to personal stories, while Paul Lukin works on the psychological dimension of the human experience through black and white, and Smita Sharma continues this path through visual investigations on human trafficking and violence in South Asia, which she collected in the book “We Cry in Silence.”
Regarding “Humanitarian Conflicts and Crises,” Xposure displays the works of photographers who worked in exceptional circumstances, including Michael Christopher Brown and Sloan George, the Iraqi-American photographer who won the Pulitzer Prize, with works documenting contemporary crises from Ukraine to the Middle East. Maria Jimena Borazas also sheds light on the Tigray War in Ethiopia, works that have won international awards.
From Syria, Ali Haj Suleiman participates, who has documented for years displacement and violations in Idlib in cooperation with international human rights organizations. The track concludes with the works of Giles Clarke, who covered major humanitarian crises.
Exposure 2026 strengthens its support for photojournalism through the Independent Photojournalist Award (IFPA), which the festival presents to support independent photographers and encourage them to continue covering global issues and crises.
The award, which will be held on January 31 as part of the festival, grants the winners 15,000 US dollars, in addition to international recognition on the “Xposure” platform, while allowing the shortlisted works to be presented to an audience of industry leaders, media institutions and the public.
The award includes three categories: “Breaking News” for urgent events of public importance, “Environment” for stories of the natural world and human impact, and “Solutions” for reports that explore how communities confront and respond to challenges.
“Xposure 2026” brings together an elite group of international creatives and specialists. Its program includes more than 126 sessions, 72 workshops, and 280 artistic evaluation sessions presented by international experts. The festival allows the public to explore 95 exhibitions that include 3,200 works of art. The Exposure World Photography Awards 2026 also attracted 29,000 entries in photography and 634 entries in films from 60 countries, which reflects the presence of the festival. Culture globally and its role in meeting the global demand for purposeful platforms that bear social and environmental responsibility.
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