Jury List for the Stenin Photo Contest-2024 Is In

The international jury is represented by two Italian photographers, Danilo Garcia Di Meo and Gabriele Cecconi, and Turkish photojournalist Sebnem Coskun.

Di Meo’s photo series "Letizia, A Story of an Invisible Life" won the Grand Prix in 2016, Cecconi’s series "The Wretched and the Earth" won the top prize in back 2019, and Coskun’s single shot "New danger to life below water: COVID-19 waste" got the highest award in 2021.

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Alyona Kochetkova and Alexei Orlov represent Russia on the jury board. Their emotionally striking and impactful series "How I fell ill" and "Blaze" won the Grand Prix in 2018 and 2023 respectively.

Alyona Kochetkova

"Being part of the jury at the Stenin jubilee contest is very important to me. For the past decade, the contest has been an excellent platform for photographers from different countries. In 2018, I won the Grand Prix. This supported me a great deal and opened up many doors. Thanks to the contest, my works have received international acclaim.

I appreciate how considerate and caring the contest tenders are to the winners and their stories. I also value the fact that the organizers help further promote photographers’ works. Now I’m happy to take part in this competition in a different capacity. Seeing other artists’ works is always fascinating and inspiring. The Stenin Contest is a platform where strong works can be truly appreciated for what they’re worth and receive the recognition they deserve. I hope that this year we’ll see many stunning and memorable stories. The contest will pave a way for an exciting journey."

Alexei Orlov

"Firstly, I would like to congratulate all those involved with the anniversary of the Andrei Stenin contest. Today, it is the most important contest in photojournalism for young photographers. I hope that the contest goes on discovering new names and sharing truly important stories of different people and their lives through authors’ work for years to come. It’s impossible to overstate its significance. I am confident that the 10th anniversary contest will give the audience top-of-the-game outstanding photos from around the world.

Being part of the jury is, first and foremost, a huge responsibility for me: it is necessary to maintain or even raise the standard for Russian and global photography, but at the same time not to miss new and talented authors who may get lost in a huge stream of submitted photos. I know what it’s like to send work to such a big contest when you don’t know what to expect, and you don’t even believe your work will actually be seen. There is a lot of work to be done, but I am sure that everything will work out just right, the way it should."

Gabriele Cecconi

"Having received the Grand Prix, and now being among the jury is a great chance to give back to both the photographers and the contest what I received back in 2019. It is great to have a chance to see the works of this year’s contestants and give my take on it, to support the best works of young photographers from all over the world who will take part in it. I hope that the contest will show the complexity and agility of the modern world that forms the very language of photojournalism, aimed at accurately expressing the essence of this year’s most significant events."

Sebnem Coskun

"The Andrei Stenin contest is very important, especially when it comes to international recognition of young journalists. As a previous winner of the competition, joining its judging panel means a lot to me, because it is very important to give photographers and their works the opportunity to take the next step in their career."

"We try to cover most important events, to make them known and more recognizable to a greater public. As a photojournalist, I assume my role with great responsibility.

"Now our task is to be the middleman between the contestants and the audience, give their works a way forward. We are hopping on the journey of pictures from different parts of the world, this will be truly exciting."

Danilo Garcia Di Meo

"Joining the jury team of the Stenin contest, a prestigious international competition that has celebrated the best works of young photographers from all over the world for a decade now, is both an honor and a huge opportunity. Speaking as someone who has won prizes here for various stories over the years, the contest means a lot to me. The awarded stories had a social impact on the parts of society they were dedicated to.

"I am sure the true essence of the contest lies in the revealing of what brings together the private and the public. For my part, I am ready to make every effort, both personal and professional, in order to pick the works that represent most contemporary, important and significant stories. I believe that the push the winners and their works get from the contest will give them a strong boost in furthering their career, just as it once happened to me. We, photographers, are a "social eye, looking at the world" and it is us who contribute to making our world a better place."

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This Year’s Details

As always, registration for the contest opened on December 22 — the date of Andrei Stenin’s birthday. Participants aged 18 to 33 can submit their applications in Russian, English or Chinese. Applications are open until 15 March 2024.

The Stenin contest also maintains the tradition of displaying the winners’ photos throughout Russia and abroad too. Winners’ exhibitions have travelled to China, South Africa, Mexico, Argentina, Uruguay, Colombia, the Congo, Turkiye, Lebanon, Germany, Spain, Italy, Greece, Hungary, Poland and Egypt.