The Xposure International Photography Festival has announced the participants who have been shortlisted for its fifth annual photography and short film awards.
The Xposure 2020-2021 Awards, organised by the Sharjah Government Media Bureau (SGMB), are divided into 10 categories, which span across different genres and formats.
The winners of the 2020-21 awards will be announced during the fifth iteration of Xposure, which is will be held at Expo Centre Sharjah from February 10 to 13.
The awards are divided into the following categories: travel, portrait, architecture, drone, junior, landscape, macro, photojournalism, short film and the Sharjah Government open category.
Click through the gallery above to see examples of submissions to each category.
"The act of making pictures can be thrilling, addictive, and undeniably fulfilling. The Xposure International Photography Festival celebrates this art through a unique competition that has grown into a globally coveted platform for both aspiring artists and established professionals to gain exposure, win prizes and have their work celebrated on a prestigious platform," says Tariq Saeed Allay, director of SGMB.
"For the industry, on the other hand, the award is now a key medium for discovering contemporary photography talents practicing in a variety of key categories."
The SGMB said in a statement that this year's awards attracted 25,384 submissions from 125 countries, the highest in its five-year history. Entries have come from six continents, with the breakdown of entries predominantly from Asia with 16,728 submissions, followed by 6,335 from Europe; 929 from Africa; 881 from North America; 301 from South America and 210 from Oceania.
It also revealed that the highest number of submissions was for the travel category, with 6,012, followed by 4,451 portrait entries and 2,469 photojournalism entries.
"The number of countries from where submissions are being received for the Xposure competition has been increasing over the years, and this edition has been an absolute stand out on this regard – not only has it recorded the highest number of submissions, the award has also attracted entries from 125 countries, signalling the entry of 15 new countries into this contest," Allay adds.
"All these achievements speak volumes about Xposure’s strengthening stature among photography professionals worldwide. It is particularly a sign of the faith amateur photographers have in Xposure as a launchpad for their artistic excellence and talent without bias."
One winner and one runner-up will be chosen in each category, as well as one overall winner, chosen across all 10 categories based on the highest score achieved. All shortlisted nominees will feature in the Xposure festival exhibition.
Shortlisted names for the Xposure International Photography Festival's photography and short film awards in full:
Travel category: F Dilek Uyar (Turkey); Chin Leong Teo (Singapore); Wei Fu (Thailand); Shenghua Yang (China): Mingqian Wang (China): Azim Khan Ronnie (Bangladesh); Aditya Vardhan (India)
Portraiture category: Pranab Basak (India); Kevin Shi (USA); Ly Hoang Long (Vietnam); Asim Ijaz (Pakistan); Hossein Fardinfard (The Netherlands); Zay Yar Lin (Myanmar); Svetlin Yosifov (Bulgaria); Pingyao Song (China)
Architecture category: Zameer Abdul Majeed (UAE); Gerdie Hutomo (Indonesia); Fatima Qader (Bahrain); Katherine Young (Great Britain); Anna Wacker (Germany); Mohammed Almusabi, (UAE); Alexandr Bormotin (Russia)
Drone category: Mostafa Ajjawi (UAE); Albert Dros (The Netherlands); Sergey Farenyuk (Russia); Ahmad Abbasi (Iran); Mohammad Reza Masoumi (Iran); Phuoc Hoai Nguyen (Vietnam); Admin Khanh (Vietnam)
Junior category: Abdullah Alraese; Ayush Krishnan; Faseeh Fawaz; Joel Josy; Ayush Krishnan; Abdulaziz Almansoori; Maitha Qassim, (all from the UAE)
Landscape category: Sheng Liu (China); Pawel Zygmunt (Ireland); Zhengdong Kuai (China); Wong Choon Keat (Myanmar); Kevin Krautgartner (Germany); Callie Chee (Australia); Janne Kahila (Finland)
Macro category: Andi Abdul Halil (Indonesia); Chin Leong Teo (Singapore); Pedro Luis Saiz (Spain); Riad Hamzi (Saudi Arabia); Alexander Tripolski (Germany); Petar Sabol (Hungary); Ajar Setiadi (Indonesia)
Photojournalism category: Marina Serebryakova (Belarus); Alain Schroeder (Belgium); Mohammed Zaanoun (Palestine); Tariq Zaidi (Great Britain); Amit Moulick (India); Debarchan Chatterjee (India); Simon Moricz-Sabjan (Hungary)
Short Film category: Marc Ressang (China); Zahra Kababian (Iran); Guido Gazzilli (Italy); Tripty Tamang Pakhrin (Nepal); Florian Ledoux (Norway); Marek Skrzecz (Poland); Issam Taachit (Algeria)
Sharjah Government Open category: Mohamed Noufal; Abdullah Aref; Mohamed Hassan; Ahmed Al-Ali; Ahmed Almheiri; Fahmi Alshalili
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Name: Qyubic
Started: October 2023
Founder: Namrata Raina
Based: Dubai
Sector: E-commerce
Current number of staff: 10
Investment stage: Pre-seed
Initial investment: Undisclosed
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www.greenheartuae.com
Modibodi
Founded in Australia, Modibodi is now in the UAE with waste-free, reusable underwear that eliminates the litter created by a woman’s monthly cycle, which adds up to approximately 136kgs of sanitary waste over a lifetime.
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The Good Karma Co
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Re:told
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Lush
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www.mena.lush.com
Bubble Bro
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Coethical
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Eggs & Soldiers
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www.eggsnsoldiers.com
AIDA%20RETURNS
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THE%20JERSEYS
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Profile box
Founders: Michele Ferrario, Nino Ulsamer and Freddy Lim
Started: established in 2016 and launched in July 2017
Based: Singapore, with offices in the UAE, Malaysia, Hong Kong, Thailand
Sector: FinTech, wealth management
Initial investment: $500,000 in seed round 1 in 2016; $2.2m in seed round 2 in 2017; $5m in series A round in 2018; $12m in series B round in 2019; $16m in series C round in 2020 and $25m in series D round in 2021
Current staff: more than 160 employees
Stage: series D
Investors: EightRoads Ventures, Square Peg Capital, Sequoia Capital India
MOUNTAINHEAD REVIEW
Starring: Ramy Youssef, Steve Carell, Jason Schwartzman
Director: Jesse Armstrong
Rating: 3.5/5
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Specs
Engine: Duel electric motors
Power: 659hp
Torque: 1075Nm
On sale: Available for pre-order now
Price: On request
The specs
Engine: 6.2-litre supercharged V8
Power: 712hp at 6,100rpm
Torque: 881Nm at 4,800rpm
Transmission: 8-speed auto
Fuel consumption: 19.6 l/100km
Price: Dh380,000
On sale: now
BIGGEST CYBER SECURITY INCIDENTS IN RECENT TIMES
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Kaseya attack: July 2021; ransomware hit perpetrated REvil, resulting in severe downtime for more than 1,000 companies
Log4j breach: December 2021; attackers exploited the Java-written code to inflitrate businesses and governments
SCORES
Multiply Titans 81-2 in 12.1 overs
(Tony de Zorzi, 34)
bt Auckland Aces 80 all out in 16 overs
(Shawn von Borg 4-15, Alfred Mothoa 2-11, Tshepo Moreki 2-16).
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
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COMPANY PROFILE
Name: Kumulus Water
Started: 2021
Founders: Iheb Triki and Mohamed Ali Abid
Based: Tunisia
Sector: Water technology
Number of staff: 22
Investment raised: $4 million
MATCH INFO
Rugby World Cup (all times UAE)
Third-place play-off: New Zealand v Wales, Friday, 1pm
Final: England v South Africa, Saturday, 1pm
Squad
Ali Kasheif, Salim Rashid, Khalifa Al Hammadi, Khalfan Mubarak, Ali Mabkhout, Omar Abdulrahman, Mohammed Al Attas, Abdullah Ramadan, Zayed Al Ameri (Al Jazira), Mohammed Al Shamsi, Hamdan Al Kamali, Mohammed Barghash, Khalil Al Hammadi (Al Wahda), Khalid Essa, Mohammed Shaker, Ahmed Barman, Bandar Al Ahbabi (Al Ain), Al Hassan Saleh, Majid Suroor (Sharjah) Walid Abbas, Ahmed Khalil (Shabab Al Ahli), Tariq Ahmed, Jasim Yaqoub (Al Nasr), Ali Saleh, Ali Salmeen (Al Wasl), Hassan Al Muharami (Baniyas)
Results:
5pm: Maiden (PA) Dh80,000 1,400m | Winner: Eghel De Pine, Pat Cosgrave (jockey), Eric Lemartinel (trainer)
5.30pm: Maiden (PA) Dh80,000 1,400m | Winner: AF Sheaar, Szczepan Mazur, Saeed Al Shamsi
6pm: Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan National Day Cup (PA) Group 3 Dh500,000 1,600m | Winner: RB Torch, Fabrice Veron, Eric Lemartinel
6.30pm: Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan National Day Cup (TB) Listed Dh380,000 1,600m | Winner: Forjatt, Chris Hayes, Nicholas Bachalard
7pm: Wathba Stallions Cup for Private Owners Handicap (PA) Dh 70,000 1,400m | Winner: Hawafez, Connor Beasley, Ridha ben Attia
7.30pm: Handicap (PA) Dh 80,000 1,600m | Winner: Qader, Richard Mullen, Jean de Roaulle
Race card
6.30pm: Emirates Holidays Maiden (TB), Dh82,500 (Dirt), 1,900m
7.05pm: Arabian Adventures Maiden (TB), Dh82,500 (D), 1,200m
7.40pm: Emirates Skywards Handicap (TB), Dh82,500 (D), 1,200m
8.15pm: Emirates Airline Conditions (TB), Dh120,000 (D), 1,400m
8.50pm: Emirates Sky Cargo (TB), Dh92,500 (D)1,400m
9.15pm: Emirates.com (TB), Dh95,000 (D), 2,000m
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A spokesman said her upset demeanour was due to a personal matter.
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UAE SQUAD FOR ASIAN JIU-JITSU CHAMPIONSHIP
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Women's squad: Hamda Al Shekheili, Shouq Al Dhanhani, Balqis Abdullah, Sharifa Al Namani, Asma Al Hosani, Maitha Sultan, Bashayer Al Matrooshi, Maha Al Hanaei, Shamma Al Kalbani, Haya Al Jahuri, Mahra Mahfouz, Marwa Al Hosani, Tasneem Al Jahoori and Maryam Al Amri
'Gehraiyaan'
Director:Shakun Batra
Stars:Deepika Padukone, Siddhant Chaturvedi, Ananya Panday, Dhairya Karwa
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Gothia Cup 2025
4,872 matches
1,942 teams
116 pitches
76 nations
26 UAE teams
15 Lebanese teams
2 Kuwaiti teams
A%20MAN%20FROM%20MOTIHARI
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The specs
Engine: 2.0-litre 4-cylturbo
Transmission: seven-speed DSG automatic
Power: 242bhp
Torque: 370Nm
Price: Dh136,814
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Killing of Qassem Suleimani
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Yadoo’s House Restaurant & Cafe
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Golden Dallah
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Al Mrzab Restaurant
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Killing of Qassem Suleimani
RESULTS
Argentina 4 Haiti 0
Peru 2 Scotland 0
Panama 0 Northern Ireland 0
Company%20Profile
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Why it pays to compare
A comparison of sending Dh20,000 from the UAE using two different routes at the same time - the first direct from a UAE bank to a bank in Germany, and the second from the same UAE bank via an online platform to Germany - found key differences in cost and speed. The transfers were both initiated on January 30.
Route 1: bank transfer
The UAE bank charged Dh152.25 for the Dh20,000 transfer. On top of that, their exchange rate margin added a difference of around Dh415, compared with the mid-market rate.
Total cost: Dh567.25 - around 2.9 per cent of the total amount
Total received: €4,670.30
Route 2: online platform
The UAE bank’s charge for sending Dh20,000 to a UK dirham-denominated account was Dh2.10. The exchange rate margin cost was Dh60, plus a Dh12 fee.
Total cost: Dh74.10, around 0.4 per cent of the transaction
Total received: €4,756
The UAE bank transfer was far quicker – around two to three working days, while the online platform took around four to five days, but was considerably cheaper. In the online platform transfer, the funds were also exposed to currency risk during the period it took for them to arrive.
Isle of Dogs
Director: Wes Anderson
Starring: Bryan Cranston, Liev Schreiber, Ed Norton, Greta Gerwig, Bill Murray, Jeff Goldblum, Scarlett Johansson
Three stars
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
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- Specialist robotics and science laboratories
- AR and VR-enabled learning centres
- Disruption Lab and Research Centre for developing entrepreneurial skills
Russia's Muslim Heartlands
Dominic Rubin, Oxford
