Sharjah Xposure Festival Concludes with Participation of 400 Photographers

The fifth edition of the International Festival of Photography (Xposure) concludes on Saturday. (Xposure)
The fifth edition of the International Festival of Photography (Xposure) concludes on Saturday. (Xposure)
TT

Sharjah Xposure Festival Concludes with Participation of 400 Photographers

The fifth edition of the International Festival of Photography (Xposure) concludes on Saturday. (Xposure)
The fifth edition of the International Festival of Photography (Xposure) concludes on Saturday. (Xposure)

The fifth edition of the International Festival of Photography (Xposure) concludes on Saturday. On display were more than 1,558 photos submitted by 400 photographers from Arab countries and beyond who captured diverse moments, experiences and aesthetics of people and landscapes alike worldwide.

This year’s edition saw a visual presentation by three international photographers. One is South African Brent Stirton, who captured with his lens scenes from 100 countries around the world and conveyed details about African cultures, endangered animal species and the dangers surrounding wildlife.

American Elia Locardi is another one of the stellar names in the field of photography to take part. Throughout his travels to 65 countries, he has captured countless distinct moments in his lens. His work has won him many awards and nominations.

The third, British photographer Giles Duley, is known for documenting conflicts and wars around the world. During the event, he spoke about his photography journey, starting from his work as a fashion photographer to working on battlefields, which led to him losing both legs and an arm after stepping on a landmine in Afghanistan.

Sheikh Sultan Al Qasimi, Chairman of the Sharjah Media Council, said: “The organization of the International Festival of Photography honors every photographer who carries his camera to document an event, so that his image becomes the event itself. Every picture has a noble end.”

He added: “We wanted to say, through the images that were on display from everywhere, that we are bound by hope, and are confident of humankind's ability to overcome unprecedented challenges. When I saw the pictures, I felt as if they were saying that there's still beauty, splendor and life in the world.”

The festival included 54 exhibitions, 21 discussion sessions, 14 workshops presented by seven renowned international photographers, ten panel discussions and 14 technical evaluation sessions. The festival was held this year amid the Covid-19 pandemic with safety and prevention measures in place.



Explorer: Sonar Image Was Rock Formation, Not Amelia Earhart Plane

A statue of Amelia Earhart at the US Capitol. Nathan Howard / GETTY IMAGES/AFP
A statue of Amelia Earhart at the US Capitol. Nathan Howard / GETTY IMAGES/AFP
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Explorer: Sonar Image Was Rock Formation, Not Amelia Earhart Plane

A statue of Amelia Earhart at the US Capitol. Nathan Howard / GETTY IMAGES/AFP
A statue of Amelia Earhart at the US Capitol. Nathan Howard / GETTY IMAGES/AFP

A sonar image suspected of showing the remains of the plane of Amelia Earhart, the famed American aviatrix who disappeared over the Pacific in 1937, has turned out to be a rock formation.

Deep Sea Vision (DSV), a South Carolina-based firm, released the blurry image in January captured by an unmanned submersible of what it said may be Earhart's plane on the seafloor.

Not so, the company said in an update on Instagram this month, AFP reported.

"After 11 months the waiting has finally ended and unfortunately our target was not Amelia's Electra 10E (just a natural rock formation)," Deep Sea Vision said.

"As we speak DSV continues to search," it said. "The plot thickens with still no evidence of her disappearance ever found."

The image was taken by DSV during an extensive search in an area of the Pacific to the west of Earhart's planned destination, remote Howland Island.

Earhart went missing while on a pioneering round-the-world flight with navigator Fred Noonan.

Her disappearance is one of the most tantalizing mysteries in aviation lore, fascinating historians for decades and spawning books, movies and theories galore.

The prevailing belief is that Earhart, 39, and Noonan, 44, ran out of fuel and ditched their twin-engine Lockheed Electra in the Pacific near Howland Island while on one of the final legs of their epic journey.

Earhart, who won fame in 1932 as the first woman to fly solo across the Atlantic, took off on May 20, 1937 from Oakland, California, hoping to become the first woman to fly around the world.

She and Noonan vanished on July 2, 1937 after taking off from Lae, Papua New Guinea, on a challenging 2,500-mile (4,000-kilometer) flight to refuel on Howland Island, a speck of a US territory between Australia and Hawaii.

They never made it.