Sharjah 24: Xposure International Photography Festival, organised by the Sharjah Government Media Bureau (SGMB), has launched new award under the category: “Independent Photojournalist”, with the aim of recognising independent and freelance photojournalist who endeavours to gather images for purpose of supporting news stories and raising awareness about the world influential issues.

Online submissions for the new category will be accepted from 1st August until 30th November 2021.

The award originally includes three categories: Spot News, which focuses on documenting events upon occurrence ; Environmental Journalism capturing degradation of the environment and change that mankind has directly or indirectly caused to the environment; and Solutions Journalism with focus on the responsiveness of current circumstances and looks for taking action to deal with difficult issues. Participating photojournalist can take part with minimum 5 to maximum 12 images.

The award submissions are judged according to two phases. The first phase relies on news values, information, theme impact, consistency, visual storytelling and relevance of the participating images, while the second phase is associated with human interest, authenticity, emotion, photographic quality, essay description and captions. 

The Independent Photojournalist of the Year will receive US $15,000, plus a gallery space to display his/her work at the next edition of the Xposure International Photography Festival, while the second winner will be awarded with a specialised gallery space to display his\her work at the upcoming edition of the festival. 

Participation in this award is free of charge and is open to all nationalities over the age of 18 who are currently holding a national or international press card issued by federation or association that is internationally accredited and recognised.