Andrei Stenin International Photo Contest Announces 2020 Winners

Spanish photographer Luis Tato won the Grand Prix for the series titled, DusitD2 TerrorAttack, which provided a pithy and vivid documentary picture of an attack that took place in Nairobi in January 2019 and left more than 20 people dead.

"I’ve been awarded thrice before at Andrei Stenin Photo Contest and every year I make sure I apply my work to the competition because it gives me the opportunity of challenging my own work and improve my professional skills. The process of editing my work for the contest, applying, waiting for the results and finally getting feedback from a very prestigious international jury is a fantastic learning experience," Tato said after receiving the contest’s top and most prestigious award.

A photojournalist from the United Kingdom, Lynzy Billing, won the first place in the Top News category (single) with the photo, dubbed "Buried Justice," which features the body of a victim of a major anti-drug campaign in the Philippines. First place in this category for series was taken by a photographic road story by French photographer Jeoffrey Guillemard, "The Southern Border," about migrants from Central America, Haiti, Africa and Cuba on their way to the United States.

In the My Planet category, the photo "Living on the Edge" by Indian reporter Sumit Sanyal won first place as the best single work. It depicts inhabitants of Mousuni Island, where the sea is gradually encroaching on the coastline. Among the series in this category, the victory was secured by the chronicle on Russia's northern Vorkuta city, "The Capital of a Disappearing World," by Russian photographer Sergei Parshukov.

Turkish photographer Sebnem Coskun has the best single work in the Sports category, while Russian journalist Pavel Volkov became the series winner in this category.

In the Portrait. A Hero of Our Time category the photograph "Wrangel Island" by journalist Yury Smityuk from Russia’s Far East won first place as the single work. It depicts Pavel Kulemeyev, a researcher at the Wrangel Island Nature Reserve, in his "natural habitat" and the tough conditions of the Arctic. The series section was topped by Italian journalist Danilo Garcia Di Meo with the photo, dubbed "Quatrani," about the young residents of L'Aquila, who were united in a spiritual oneness following an earthquake during their childhood.

This year’s works are distinguished by their painterly quality, through which young photojournalists have tried to express the most pressing problems of our time — from social and political clashes to environmental issues. Beauty, they believe, has a great humanistic influence that can save the world.

The contest is named after the Rossiya Segodnya International Information Agency's photo correspondent Andrei Stenin, who was killed while covering the conflict in eastern Ukraine in 2014. Its main goal is to support young photographers and draw public attention to the challenges of modern photojournalism.