The contest was lanched by Rossiya Segodnya under the aegis of the Russian Commission for UNESCO to support young photographers and draw public attention to the challenges of modern photojournalism. It is named after Rossiya Segodnya's photo correspondent — Andrei Stenin — who was killed while covering the conflict in eastern Ukraine in 2014.
"This year, the Andrei Stenin contest celebrates its first jubilee — the fifth anniversary. It not only supports photographers at the beginning of their professional career, but also maintains and develops high standards of photojournalism, as well as shapes quality criteria for documentary photography," Valery Platonov, the head of the Russian Center of Science and Culture, said.
In 2019, the contest brought together participants from a record number of countries — nearly 6,000 works from 80 countries, according to Platonov.
"At the heart of each work displayed is a story of a person, a personality," he added, opening the exhibition.
This year, the contest’s cross-cutting theme is refugees and forced migration. The topic, Platonov says, is depicted by young photographers as "one of the most excruciating phenomena of the modern world."
The exhibition features dozens of works by photojournalists from Russia, Italy, the United States, Germany, France, Spain, South Africa, India, Turkey and other countries.
The photo series "The Wretched and the Earth" by Gabriele Cecconi of Italy, the Grand Prix winner, tells about Rohingya refugees and southern Bangladesh, brought to the brink of slow destruction due to this migration.
A photo by Sameer Doumy of Syria titled "Escaping Conflict to Another" depicts a man who is carrying a wounded girl in his arms after an air attack on Damascus.
One of the most colorful works is one by Dey Santanu of India, which features professions close to extinction — from the Bahurupi street costume actors to street glass cutters.
The exhibition will run through 18 October as part of the international festival, Art Market Budapest. The entrance is free on weekdays from 10:00 a.m. to 6 p.m. local time [08:00 to 16:00 GMT].
The contest will make its next stop in South Africa’s Cape Town.