The winner of the online vote will receive a certificate like the contest winners that will be announced by a professional jury on August 7 2017.
According to the online voting, the top five also includes ‘Widow Holi’ by Shashi Shekhar Kashyap, India, a photo report by Phandulwazi Jikelo, South Africa, Grabouw Housing Protest, a striking portrait of a refugee boy in Idomeni, ‘The European Dream’ by Anna Pantelia, Greece, and photos of winter surfing on Russia’s Pacific Coast by Yury Smityuk, Russia.
Head of the Rossiya Segodnya's Photo Directorate, Alexander Shtol, said: “We are happy about the results of the online voting, which demonstrates the popularity of modern photography among viewers. The photos for which the amateurs voted are distinguished by their precision in conveying candid scenes from daily life and brightness of colors.”
Tabyldy Kadyrbekov describes how the winning photo came about: “There was a snowstorm in the street. To be honest, I was reluctant to go out when the editor told me to make a photo report. But in the process of taking photos I really got into it, and I no longer felt cold and stopped hiding from the snow. It was interesting to see how residents of Bishkek responded to the snowstorm. I was about to finish my photo session in the capital when I saw a granny selling candy floss. I took a photo of her from behind but it seemed to me that something was missing. I walked around her and took a couple of pictures. She smiled and I took this picture. She asked me: “Why are you taking pictures of me?” I said: “As a memento.”
In 2017, the Andrei Stenin International Press Photo Contest received about 5,000 photos from 76 countries in four categories: Top News, Sports, My Planet, and Portrait: A Hero of Our Time.
About the contest
The 2016 contest received 6,000 entries of young photojournalists from 71 countries. Winning photographs have been exhibited in Moscow, Istanbul, Cape Town, Shanghai, Beijing, Cairo, Berlin, Rome, Maribor and Ljubljana.
The contest’s 2017 international partners include: Al Mayadeen TV, Shanghai United Media Group (SUMG) and ICRC.
General media partners of the contest include the news website Vesti.Ru, the Russian state Rossiya-Kultura TV channel, news website KP.ru, news website ZhurDom and the Russian Photo website. International media partners of the contest include Sputnik News Agency and Radio, Askanews news agency, Independent Media holding, Notimex news agency, RT TV channel and news site, The Royal Photographic Society, Shanghai United Media Group (SUMG), Xinhua news agency, ANDES news agency, news agency ANA and Al Mayadeen TV channel. Industry media partners include the Academy of Photography, GeoPhoto agency, Photo-study.ru educational portal, Bleek Magazine, the Union of Journalists of Moscow, the Union of Art Photographers of Russia, Young Journalists information portal and the festivals PhotoVisa and Uglich Photo Parade.
