Amin Abbas

Vantage Point Sharjah 9, the ninth iteration of Sharjah Art Foundation’s annual initiative dedicated to the medium of photography is currently on view till Dec. 18 at the foundation’s off-site venue Al Hamriyah Studios.

This year’s edition of Vantage Point Sharjah photography exhibition features works by 53 photographers from 30 countries including Japanese photographer Hiro Tanaka.

The featured works is being selected from an open call that received more than 500 submissions in four categories: Conceptual, Experimental, Photojournalism and Documentary, and Staged Photography.

A representative of Sharjah Art Foundation shared with Arab News Japan some of the challenges that the organizers faced during this year’s edition of Vantage Point Sharjah: “The biggest challenge was the sheer number of applications we received. It was a huge task to shortlist only some out of the more than 500 applications that we received in response to the international open call. Having a jury to make the final selection was very helpful”.

About distinguishing this year’s edition of Vantage Point Sharjah from the previous events, the representative said: “For the first time in the nine years that Vantage Point Sharjah has been organized by Sharjah Art Foundation, we introduced a jury consisting of Ammar Al Attar (artist), Sham Enbashi (photographer and architect), M’hammed Kilito (photographer) and Alia Al Shamsi (author and artist) as well as a cash prize to encourage and help photographers. This year, we invited submissions under four categories: Conceptual, Photojournalism and Documentary, Experimental and Staged Photography, in order to have a fairer selection of photographers for each category.”

About the organizer’s recommendations for the visitors who are looking forward to attend this year’s edition of Vantage Point Sharjah, the representative encourages people to visit the exhibition “to see how the photographers have captured the world around them by exploring their personal experiences and narratives as well as cultural, political or environmental conditions. Visitors can also enjoy the venue, Al Hamriyah Studios, one of our personal favorites. Do not forget to check out the educational programmes running during VPS9 that are inspired by this year’s edition.”