Russian and European photographers' works mainly depict portraits, cityscapes, show the lives of the homeless, human emotion and stories from people's lives. Meanwhile, Latin American and Middle Eastern photographers choose to show children, family life and religious rites.
Photographers from more than 15 countries — including the United States, Brazil, the United Kingdom, Cyprus, Greece, India, Iran, Russia and Belarus among others — are taking part in the contest.
By far the largest number of photographs have been submitted under the category Current Issues. The main themes include human impact on nature, the expression of poverty, loneliness, and parental neglect. There are also portraits of Vietnam War veterans and eyewitnesses of the Bhopal disaster.
Other categories include Top News, Sports, and Everyday Life. Most of the photos submitted to the Sports category – covering everything from the Olympic Games to street soccer – come from Russia and Europe.
Applications are open to those age 18 to 33 and will be accepted on the contest's website at stenincontest.com until April 15, 2015.
The jury will select three prize winners in each category. The winner of the Grand Prix will be selected by a majority of the jury from the best photos in all categories. The award ceremony will take place in Moscow on June 3, 2015.
The contest gives representatives of the world photography community an opportunity to discover new names in photojournalism, promote high standards in the profession, and help formulate quality criteria for documentary photography in Russia and around the world.
The International Information Agency Rossiya Segodnya launched the contest in last December. The contest is named after the agency's photojournalist Andrei Stenin, killed in eastern Ukraine on editorial assignment last August.
