There is little doubt that images have power – to stun, to uplift, to deceive, to educate. But how far can this power go towards enacting change?
It’s a central question at this year’s Xposure International Photography Festival, which runs until February 15 at the Expo Centre Sharjah.
More than 55 photographers from around the world are taking part in the event, with many scheduled to discuss critical issues in contemporary photography and to share their knowledge and processes with fellow image-makers.
Photographer Chris Rainier, who spoke at the event’s opening on Wednesday, said the festival can be the site “to discuss and debate how we can all galvanise our efforts to use photography as a powerful tool to save the world”.
Rainier, whose work focuses on indigenous communities, highlighted various ways that images can shed light on global problems, including climate change.
“Photography is a dynamic force or tool for change,” he said, citing the late landscape photographer and environmentalist Ansel Adams, for whom he worked as an assistant in the 1980s, as an example of how images can shape public opinion. Adams' stunning work on the American wilderness aided environmental movements to protect these areas.
“He used his images of beauty of nature in order to save it,” Rainier said.
Today, many wildlife photographers share a similar aim – to showcase the splendour of the natural world, as well as its fragility and ongoing destruction. At Xposure, works by Brian Skerry, Jennifer Hayes, David Doubilet and Laurent Ballesta bring to the surface the richness of marine wildlife and the world’s waters.
Skerry and Ballesta will take part in the festival’s first Conservation Summit “Saving our Oceans” on February 10.
Meanwhile, works by other wildlife photographers, such as Mogens Trolle and Joel Sartore, have been given spectacular sections, including a garden-like booth with portraits taken by Trolle of primates under threat and a large-scale screen display of curious creatures taken by Sartore.
On February 14, Rainier, along with photographers Jordan Hammond, Daniel Kordan, QT Luong and Iurie Belegurschi, will continue the topic of the power of photography in a panel discussion that will tackle issues of authenticity and how to use technology, including social media, to raise awareness.
The question of photographic power also extends to Xposure’s exhibitions by photojournalists, including heavyweights such as James Nachtwey, whose images of war, conflict and social issues since the 1980s remain the most compelling.
A section dedicated to Nachtwey features his work on the Salvadoran Civil War in the 1980s, the break-up of Yugoslavia in the 1990s and the aftermath of the September 11 attacks in New York in 2001. Seen together, this rare, stunning display underlines the photographer’s life-long dedication to uncovering difficult realities in the hopes of moving the needle towards peace.
Across from Nachtwey's is an exhibition of Steve McCurry’s work, from his travels across India in the 1980s and 1990s to his unforgettable portraits of people in Pakistan, Nepal, Mongolia and Yemen.
Both Nachtwey and McCurry embody the tail-end of a kind of photojournalism, just before the rise of digital photography and the advent of social media, and the photographers will reflect on these issues in two separate talks.
On February 15, Nachtwey will speak about the impact of the internet on photojournalism in a talk titled A Perspective on Visual Journalism in an era of social media and “alternative facts”, while McCurry will discuss his life and work on February 14.
Continuing in the tradition of photo reportage are Muhammed Muheisen, whose coverage of the refugee crisis in Pakistan and Jordan has earned him accolades, including the Pulitzer Prize, and Diego Ibarra Sanchez, whose series The Phoenician Collapse chronicles the increasing political crisis in Lebanon.
Elsewhere, the images of Kiran Ridley and Goncalo Fonseca bear witness to political and social turmoil in places such as Hong Kong, where Ridley captured dramatic scenes from the pro-democracy protests that began in 2019, and Portugal, where the government directed a campaign to tackle an opioid epidemic that began in the 2000s.
Collectively, these exhibitions speak to the strength of visual storytelling, or at the very least, the promise that each image contains, whether it is in building an archive of world history or, more ambitiously, a driver for action.
To return to the central question of photography’s power to change the world, Frank Fournier offers an answer. He who won the World Press Photo Award in 1985, has covered the aftermath of natural disasters, including volcano eruptions and mudslides in Colombia, and has also produced memorable street photography from 1970s New York.
“Photography should not pretend to solve issues on war, genocide and injustice,” he says. “But should only talk about the unacceptable, the conditions that perpetuate these problems.” Indeed the image is only the instigator. The rest is up to us.
More from Rashmee Roshan Lall
Profile of Bitex UAE
Date of launch: November 2018
Founder: Monark Modi
Based: Business Bay, Dubai
Sector: Financial services
Size: Eight employees
Investors: Self-funded to date with $1m of personal savings
THE SPECS
Aston Martin Rapide AMR
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Price: Dh999,563
Director: Jon Favreau
Starring: Donald Glover, Seth Rogen, John Oliver
Rating: 2 out of 5 stars
The specs
Engine: Four electric motors, one at each wheel
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On sale: Now
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
A little about CVRL
Founded in 1985 by Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid, Vice President and Ruler of Dubai, the Central Veterinary Research Laboratory (CVRL) is a government diagnostic centre that provides testing and research facilities to the UAE and neighbouring countries.
One of its main goals is to provide permanent treatment solutions for veterinary related diseases.
The taxidermy centre was established 12 years ago and is headed by Dr Ulrich Wernery.
What you as a drone operator need to know
A permit and licence is required to fly a drone legally in Dubai.
Sanad Academy is the United Arab Emirate’s first RPA (Remotely Piloted Aircraft) training and certification specialists endorsed by the Dubai Civil Aviation authority.
It is responsible to train, test and certify drone operators and drones in UAE with DCAA Endorsement.
“We are teaching people how to fly in accordance with the laws of the UAE,” said Ahmad Al Hamadi, a trainer at Sanad.
“We can show how the aircraft work and how they are operated. They are relatively easy to use, but they need responsible pilots.
“Pilots have to be mature. They are given a map of where they can and can’t fly in the UAE and we make these points clear in the lectures we give.
“You cannot fly a drone without registration under any circumstances.”
Larger drones are harder to fly, and have a different response to location control. There are no brakes in the air, so the larger drones have more power.
The Sanad Academy has a designated area to fly off the Al Ain Road near Skydive Dubai to show pilots how to fly responsibly.
“As UAS technology becomes mainstream, it is important to build wider awareness on how to integrate it into commerce and our personal lives,” said Major General Abdulla Khalifa Al Marri, Commander-in-Chief, Dubai Police.
“Operators must undergo proper training and certification to ensure safety and compliance.
“Dubai’s airspace will undoubtedly experience increased traffic as UAS innovations become commonplace, the Forum allows commercial users to learn of best practice applications to implement UAS safely and legally, while benefitting a whole range of industries.”
Company%20Profile
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Common OCD symptoms and how they manifest
Checking: the obsession or thoughts focus on some harm coming from things not being as they should, which usually centre around the theme of safety. For example, the obsession is “the building will burn down”, therefore the compulsion is checking that the oven is switched off.
Contamination: the obsession is focused on the presence of germs, dirt or harmful bacteria and how this will impact the person and/or their loved ones. For example, the obsession is “the floor is dirty; me and my family will get sick and die”, the compulsion is repetitive cleaning.
Orderliness: the obsession is a fear of sitting with uncomfortable feelings, or to prevent harm coming to oneself or others. Objectively there appears to be no logical link between the obsession and compulsion. For example,” I won’t feel right if the jars aren’t lined up” or “harm will come to my family if I don’t line up all the jars”, so the compulsion is therefore lining up the jars.
Intrusive thoughts: the intrusive thought is usually highly distressing and repetitive. Common examples may include thoughts of perpetrating violence towards others, harming others, or questions over one’s character or deeds, usually in conflict with the person’s true values. An example would be: “I think I might hurt my family”, which in turn leads to the compulsion of avoiding social gatherings.
Hoarding: the intrusive thought is the overvaluing of objects or possessions, while the compulsion is stashing or hoarding these items and refusing to let them go. For example, “this newspaper may come in useful one day”, therefore, the compulsion is hoarding newspapers instead of discarding them the next day.
Source: Dr Robert Chandler, clinical psychologist at Lighthouse Arabia
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THREE
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Key facilities
- Olympic-size swimming pool with a split bulkhead for multi-use configurations, including water polo and 50m/25m training lanes
- Premier League-standard football pitch
- 400m Olympic running track
- NBA-spec basketball court with auditorium
- 600-seat auditorium
- Spaces for historical and cultural exploration
- An elevated football field that doubles as a helipad
- Specialist robotics and science laboratories
- AR and VR-enabled learning centres
- Disruption Lab and Research Centre for developing entrepreneurial skills
