Rossiya Segodnya Starts Accepting Entries for 2017 Andrei Stenin Photo Contest

MOSCOW (Sputnik) — Applications can now be submitted to the stenincontest.com website through March 22, 2017. Photographers aged 18-33 qualify to take part. The Andrei Stenin photo contest was established by the Rossiya Segodnya International Information Agency under the auspices of Russia’s Commission for UNESCO.

The 2017 contest will showcase four categories in which young photographers can vie for awards: "Top News" and "Sport," "My Planet" and "Portrait. A Hero of Our Time," The Grand Prix is set at 500,000 rubles ($8,000), while the 1st, 2nd and 3rd prizes amount to 50,000, 35,000 and 25,000 rubles, respectively. Even more important is the opportunity for young photojournalists to showcase their works at Russian and international exhibitions.

"The Andrei Stenin International Photo Contest is a chance for young photojournalists from around the world to make a name for themselves, to assess their skills and see what drives and thrills them most in this job and what they should pursue. The contest, with a jury of leading international photographers and photography experts, discovers new names and displays their works for the whole world to see. We are happy to welcome new contestants and wish them good luck!" Alexander Shtol, the director of Rossiya Segodnya Photo Information Directorate, said.

The international photo contest was first organized in December 2014 in memory of Stenin who was killed in the Donetsk Region in eastern Ukraine on August 6, 2014, when the car he was in while on an editorial assignment was shot and burned on a highway. The photo contest aims to promote young photographers and attract public attention to photojournalism.

The 2016 contest was the largest ever since its establishment. The jury had to choose from among 6,000 entries by young photojournalists from 71 countries, including Russia. Winning photographs have been shown in Moscow, Istanbul, Cape Town, Cairo, Shanghai and Beijing, Rome, Berlin, Maribor and Ljubljana. The Grand Prix prize in the 2016 contest went to Italian photographer Danilo Garcia Di Meo for a photo series about paralyzed young woman, Letizia. The series won the hearts of the jury and, as a result, Letizia made her first ever foreign trip to Russia where she could tell her story in person and inspire those people who live a similar life.

The 2016 contest was supported by major Russian and international media outlets, news agencies and photo societies. Its general information sponsors were: The Rossiya K TV Channel (Russia Culture), KP.ru, the news and information portal jourdom.ru portal and the Russian Photo portal. The contest’s international information partners were: Sputnik News Agency and Radio, the Askanews news agency, EFE news agency, EBC, Notimex news agency, RT TV network and portal, The Royal Photographic Society, Shanghai United Media Group (SUMG), Xinhua news agency, Independent Media, ANTARA Foto press photo agency. The contest’s professional information partners were: the Academy of Photography, the agency Geophoto.ru, the photography educational website photo-study.ru, the Moscow Union of Journalists, the Union of Student and Youth Media, the portal Young Journalists and the Uglich Photo Parade festival.