AE · Free entry · 2026
· verified
Xposure International Photography Awards 2026/27
Sharjah Government Media Bureau (Xposure International Photography Festival) awards.xposure.net ↗
Closes Sep 20, 2026
·
D − 29
Worth entering? Free to enter against a $60.0K top prize — the cost is your rights, not your money: read the licence terms below before you submit. Jury read ↓ · Rights & disqualifiers ↓
Submit-Safe · before you pay the entry fee
Read the fine print
Read the fine print first — Xposure International Photography Awards 2026/27 has 4 hard disqualifiers and demanding rights terms.
What this contest takes
Standard terms — you keep copyright and full control; the licence is limited to promoting the contest.
- Copyright retained by the photographer. Award, nominated and shortlisted pictures grant the organisers unlimited non-exclusive use of high-resolution images for activities in all media — a broad grant entrants should weigh before submitting.
- Duration: Unlimited (award, nominated and shortlisted pictures).
- You keep your copyright
- No attribution guaranteed
What disqualifies you
Generative fill is out; AI denoise / sharpen / upscale are fine — but “excessive manipulation” is judged subjectively, so keep the edit honest.
- Copyright ownership Entrant must hold copyright; copyright is retained by the photographer. “Copyright holders retain copyright of their work. For awarded pictures, copyright holders grant the organisers unlimited non-exclusive use of high-resolution images.”
- Ai generation Restrictive manipulation line outside dedicated categories: no adding or removing content, no staging that misrepresents the scene. “Unless in a category specifically designed for photo manipulation, entries should not include adding or removing content or staging a photograph to mislead the viewer. Adjustments of levels, colour, contrast, and brightness are permitted.”
- Capture date after Work must have been taken/produced within the past 3 years. “Entries must have been taken or produced within the past three years.”
- Image format Nominees must supply TIFF + RAW files for verification (layered PSD/PSB plus prompt/seed/model export for AI or photo-manipulation entries). “Nominated entrants must provide TIFF and RAW files for verification.”
Closes Sep 20, 2026 · D−29
Free to enter
Upload spec:
Files: JPGCaption requiredNo watermarks
Check your photo against these exact rules — free →
No account · reads the editing line, the AI clause and the file spec · rules human-verified
The full editorial read continues with past-winner pattern, fee-to-prize value, rights translated, and three comparable competitions. Studio reads the rest.
Categories
Single Image (multiple themed sections)
Single
Single-image entries across the festival's themed award sections.
Visual Storytelling (six-image story)
Portfolio · up to 6 photos (min 6)
Six-image story judged as a sequence. Overall cap: 10 images/films per entrant across all categories.
F Format requirements 1 spec
xposure_standard
- File types: jpg
- No watermarks
- Caption required
E Eligibility 4 rules
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Entrant must hold copyright; copyright is retained by the photographer.
hard
“Copyright holders retain copyright of their work. For awarded pictures, copyright holders grant the organisers unlimited non-exclusive use of high-resolution images.”
-
Restrictive manipulation line outside dedicated categories: no adding or removing content, no staging that misrepresents the scene.
hard
“Unless in a category specifically designed for photo manipulation, entries should not include adding or removing content or staging a photograph to mislead the viewer. Adjustments of levels, colour, contrast, and brightness are permitted.”
-
Work must have been taken/produced within the past 3 years.
hard
“Entries must have been taken or produced within the past three years.”
-
Nominees must supply TIFF + RAW files for verification (layered PSD/PSB plus prompt/seed/model export for AI or photo-manipulation entries).
hard
“Nominated entrants must provide TIFF and RAW files for verification.”
Jury context
Festival-scale international jury assembled by the Sharjah Government Media Bureau for one of the largest photography festivals in the Middle East. Free entry plus a USD 60k+ prize pool draws a very large, global field — distinctive vision and rigorous captioning stand out over technically clean but generic work.
Priorities: storytelling originality technical execution caption integrity
Tone: documentary depth global perspectives festival exhibition scale
Avoid: staged scenes content addition or removal generic stock aesthetics
Prizes
USD 60,000+ total prize pool across sections; winners exhibited at the Xposure International Photography Festival in Sharjah.
Exhibition
R Rights & licensing what you grant the organizer
- What you grant
- Copyright retained by the photographer. Award, nominated and shortlisted pictures grant the organisers unlimited non-exclusive use of high-resolution images for activities in all media — a broad grant entrants should weigh before submitting.
- Duration
- Unlimited (award, nominated and shortlisted pictures).
- Exclusivity
- none
- Attribution
- Not required
- Copyright retained by photographer
- Yes
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Before you enter — quick answers
- Is Xposure International Photography Awards 2026/27 free to enter?
- Yes — Xposure International Photography Awards 2026/27 is free to enter.
- Are AI-generated images allowed in Xposure International Photography Awards 2026/27?
- AI-assisted editing is permitted at Xposure International Photography Awards 2026/27, but the image must originate from a real photograph and manipulation may need to be disclosed. A fully AI-generated image is not eligible as a photograph.
- When is the Xposure International Photography Awards 2026/27 deadline?
- Xposure International Photography Awards 2026/27 closes on Sep 20, 2026 (in 29 days).
- How do I know if my photo is eligible for Xposure International Photography Awards 2026/27?
- Read your photograph against Xposure International Photography Awards 2026/27's published rules — the editing line, the AI clause, and the file requirements — free and without an account with WinPhoto's eligibility check. It tells you whether your image is eligible before you pay the entry fee.