Cameras in your closet, collecting dust? Aching to let your creativity run free, but cannot because you are confined to your homes? Well, the time has come to zoom in on the details of home life and put your brilliance in photography to test with the Xposure International Photography Festival #HomeCaptured contest. This easy-to-enter competition that'll announce weekly winners will run for as long as the lockdown period announced by governments worldwide to curb the spread of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic continues. The photo contest to open to anybody and everybody across the world and invites shutterbugs to use their artistic skills to capture the beauty and uniqueness of everyday moments at home. A decorative item you may not have noticed before; an adorable peculiarity of your pet; the way your child moves around at home; how the eyes of a loved one crinkles as they laugh; or the sudden silence or infrequent movement on the empty streets outside, which bustled with activity not so long ago. In this competition, your subject is only limited by your imagination. #HomeCaptured is an attempt to get everybody to explore new and creative ways to engage with photography in their homes during this trying period, as the world's movement has been heavily curtailed in a bid by governments to tackle an aggressive global health crisis. Top two entries will be announced every week and win cash prizes of US$ 1,000 and 750, respectively. Photographs can be taken using any camera people have at their disposal. All entries must abide by a few simple rules. They need to be uploaded at https://stayhome.xposure.ae/ in JPG format, and must be #HomeCaptured, that is, taken within the confines of your home or looking out from a window. Contestants can submit one image in each 24-hour period over the duration of the contest. Finally, photos taken starting April 1, 2020, are eligible to enter the contest. An independent jury will evaluate entries on a weekly basis, based on a Five-Score System. Images will marked on the criteria of composition, technical quality and lighting. Winners will be notified by email and their images will be published on Xposure's StayHome website as well as on all Xposure socials. This contest does not fall under the Xposure International Photography Awards, and requires a separate registrations and login procedure to be completed by all entrants. Talking about the #HomeCaptured competition, HE Tariq Saeed Allay, Director of Sharjah Government Media Bureau, said: "While a forced downtime is being experienced by a majority of the world's population worldwide as we try our best to keep ourselves and our families safe in the wake of a global pandemic, we can embrace this quiet period by paying attention to the little details our otherwise busy lives wouldn't allow us to relish. With the #HomeCaptured global online contest, Xposure is presenting both hobbyists and professionals an opportunity to pursue their passion for photography, even from home." "Sharjah's continuous endeavour has been to nurture talent and encourage creativity across artistic genres. SGMB is committed to furthering this goal, no matter the circumstances. We hope the competition is taken up as an active creative pursuit by many, and opens our eyes to new, unique and interesting stories from people's homes around the world. We encourage everyone to start clicking!" he added. The Xposure International Festival of Photography has in a very short time established itself as a premier international event dedicated to celebrating the art of photography and expanding professional frontiers for aspiring professionals in the region. It is a gateway to meet all the needs of photographers. Bringing together a wide range of events and activities - exhibitions, workshops, screenings, photography competitions and a trade show by international companies - on a single platform, Xposure is a ground-breaking initiative to celebrate and enrich the field of photojournalism in the UAE and the region.
