MOSCOW (Sputnik) — An album of Andrei Stenin's best works, entitled "The Conflict Zone", prepared by his colleagues at Rossiya Segodnya International Information Agency, was released on Thursday to commemorate his death a year ago in southeastern Ukraine on August 6, 2014. While compiling the album, Andrei's friends and colleagues made use of his enormous photo archives and personal notes. "The Conflict Zone" includes 168 photos made by Stenin during his work as a photo correspondent in Ukraine, Lebanon, Syria, Egypt, Turkey, Libya and Kyrgyzstan from 2010 to 2014.
Stenin began his career as a reporter. Having later become a war photographer, he continued to write about the war in his succinct style, mostly for himself. Excerpts from Andrei Stenin's autobiography, war diaries and publications on social media were included in "The Conflict Zone".
Excerpts from Stenin's diaries and publications on social media
June 20, 2014: "We are being bombed from time to time and the most cowardly rush to the shelter — an empty and gloomy basement with a lonely candle on a table. A communications engineers sleeps there at night. He finds it more pleasant to sleep in this dismal basement than in a hotel room that is sometimes shaking. He was nicknamed Dracula."
June 22, 2014: "A tip for a housewife. When you hear a whizzing, booming sound, it means that a mine or shell flew past and exploded behind you. When the boom comes first, it's a mine exploding close to your dugout as you are smoking your cigarette. … If you accidentally touched your camera with your foot, touch it with your hand by all means, as if you are apologizing, or else it will break down at the worst moment."
Andrei Stenin (1980-2014), Russian photographer and special photo correspondent for Rossiya Segodnya's Integrated Photography Directorate. He was killed on Aug. 6, 2014 while on assignment. Stenin was posthumously awarded the Order of Courage for displaying bravery and heroism while performing his duty.
He was a recognized photographer of armed conflicts. His photos twice won the Silver Camera competition. A photo he shot during the conflict in Ukraine in 2014 won the Picture of the Year International.
Rossiya Segodnya launched an international contest named in his honor on his birthday on Dec. 22, 2014. The Andrei Stenin International Press Photo Contest conducted by the news agency under the auspices of UNESCO hopes to raise public awareness of the mission of photojournalism and support young photographers striving to develop their professional skills.
