Hi, I am back after a week's freelance assignment at Xposure, Sharjah's annual photography festival. It was a great and fun experience, listening to seminars and panel discussions by acclaimed photographers like Chris Rainier and Sergey Ponomarev and writing features about unique photographs and pavilions.
This year, the exhibition and setup was classier and bigger than usual, probably because it is UAE's 50th year celebrations time. A photo ark by Joel Sartore greeted us as soon we got past the registration area - a tunnel like gatewayt with 12000 images taken by the Nat Geo photographer played on the walls along with animal sounds of birds, insects etc. The tunnel opened to a forest area with ape pictures, perfect for selfies.
To the left was the Media Centre where we sat for 7 days, pampered endlessly by 5-star food. While we got only high tea inside, there was a dining hall on the first floor serving buffet lunch and dinner which I patronised only on the last two days. I couldnt resist the exquisite desserts on offer, and my sugar levels must have gone for a sixer.
Most days I walked around the pavilion drinking in the sights. There was Steve McCurry's pavilion with the famed Afghan Girl photo among others. Since ocean conservation was the theme, there was a fantastic pavilion with underwater pictures by a Nat Geo photographer couple among others.
And by the time the event wound up yesterday, I was loathe to leave. One of the seminars I attended on Feb 14 was patronised by the Deputy Ruler who heads the Shj Gov media bureau. A Valentine's Day special! It was also my mom's birthday that day and I had arranged a cake for her from a home baker back in my hometown.
Covid has made online transactions much easier and more popular. The week while I was away at work, I ordered food from the Pak lady on a few days, V cooked chicken karahi one night, and bought food the other days.
Looking forward to the next project....
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