Among this year’s contestants there are young photographers from 77 countries, which is more than last year. The number of entries from foreign countries has doubled compared to the previous contest.
Winners represent 14 countries, including photographers from Russia, Iran, Iraq, Israel, India, Bangladesh, Egypt, Turkey, Germany, Italy, Spain, Belarus, Kenya and South Africa. Russia, Iran and Belarus lead in the number of entries, followed by India, Israel, Spain and South Africa.
The topics covered by the 2018 contest demonstrate the variety and diversity of the world and encompass the signature issues of the current reality, from the almost Biblical beauty of limestone mines in Upper Egypt to the video clip style coverage of the post-election turmoil in Kenya in the fall of 2017; from the folk scenes from the daily life of Nenets nomads in the Arctic to fiery reports from tennis battles at the 2017 French Open.
Curator of the contest and Head of Rossiya Segodnya Photo Projects Oksana Oleinik commented on this year’s winners:
“Clearly, this year, the contest has not only made another breakthrough in the number of contestants and entries (which has already become a good tradition). There is a breakthrough in the quality of work as well. Young participants are growing as professionals. All the winning works indicate the photographers’ extraordinary perspectives of the events and the skill to tell a remarkable story using catchy visual means, the maturity of thinking and great professionalism. Winners’ cameras do not simply record the reality in its vividness and dynamics but also manage to show the cause and effect, strip it down to photographic codes. Congratulations to the new winners and good luck in their future creative career.”
Jury President, Visual News Editor-in-Chief for Anadolu Agency (Turkey) Ahmet Sel: “This contest is important because it helps young photographers to kick-start their career and is a great leap forward. Young photographers have an extremely sharp eye; they can show something we simply don’t notice as we go on with our lives. We discovered true masterpieces among the collection of works this year. I want to take this opportunity and wish good luck to all the young photographers participating in the Stenin Contest.”
The prizes will be announced on August 6 at stenincontest.com. The award ceremony will take place in the fall followed by an exhibition of the winning works in Moscow.
About the contest:
The Andrei Stenin International Press Photo Contest was launched by Rossiya Segodnya under the aegis of the Russian Commission for UNESCO. Its main goal is to support young photographers and draw public attention to the challenges of modern photojournalism. This contest is a platform for young photographers; talented, empathetic and open-minded, they draw our attention to people and events around us.
The contest’s general information partners include: the news website Vesti.Ru, the Russian state Rossiya-Kultura TV channel, news website ZhurDom and the Russian Photo website. International media partners 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), news agency ANA, TeleSUR international informative multiplatform, China Daily web-site, Frontline magazine, The Philippine News Agency, AlYoum AlSabee, The Paper, Radio Republik Indonesia, BERNAMA news agency, Antara news agency, Al Mayadeen. Industry media partners include the Academy of Photography, GeoPhoto agency, Photo-study.ru educational portal, the Union of Journalists of Moscow, the Union of Art Photographers of Russia,Young Journalists information portal and the festivals Fotoistanbul, KOLGA TBILISI PHOTO, PhotoVisa.