2018 Andrei Stenin Int’l Photo Contest Opens

A little over three years ago, in August 2014, Rossiya Segodnya’s photojournalist Andrei Stenin was killed in Donbass while performing his professional duty. He would have turned 37 in 2017.

Andrei was famous for his photographs from hotspots such as Syria, Gaza , Egypt, Libya, Turkey and, of course, southeastern Ukraine, of which Rossiya Segodnya is still proud.

In December 2014, the agency established the Andrei Stenin International Press Photo Contest under the patronage of the Commission of the Russian Federation for UNESCO.

Participants aged 18 to 33 can now submit their entries at stenincontest.com. The submission period closes on February 28, 2018.

The Andrei Stenin contest is the only competition in Russia that discovers new names in international photojournalism and develops quality standards for documentary photography.

The contest is aimed at supporting young photojournalists and helping them make a breakthrough in their careers.

This year contestants will again compete in four categories — Top News, Sport, My Planet, and Portrait, A Hero of Our Time. However this time around, photographers can submit up to three entries in each category, giving them a greater opportunity to demonstrate their professional skills.

The 2018 prize money is almost double that of the previous year:
* The Grand Prize winner – RUB 700,000 (around 12 000 USD).
* The first place winner in each category for an individual Photo Image or a Series of Photo Images – RUB 100,000 (around 1 700 USD).
* The second place winner in each category for an individual Photo Image or a Series of Photo Images – RUB 75,000 (around 1 300 USD).
* The third place winner in each category for an individual Photo Image or a Series of Photo Images – RUB 50,000 (around 900 USD).

The opportunity for young photojournalists to showcase their work at Russian and international exhibition venues during the winners’ international tour, now an integral part of the contest, is no less important than the monetary award to the participants.

The judges include photography experts from leading news agencies and media outlets. They are Ahmet Sel, Visual News Editor-in- Chief for Anadolu Agency, the oldest and largest agency in Turkey; Jorge Árciga Avila, deputy director of photography at the Notimex Mexican News Agency; Pavel Kassin, head of the Photo Department at Kommersant; Agence France-Presse’s (AFP) special correspondent in Moscow Mladen Antonov; founder and director of the independent Russian photo agency SALT IMAGES Anna Zekria; and Ivan Sekretaryov, photojournalist with more than 20 years of experience, former photographer of The Associated Press (AP) Moscow Bureau.

One more jury member is Wang Yao, Honorary President of China Photographers’ Association, President of Chinese Women Photographers’ Association, who in the past served as Deputy Editor-in-Chief at China News Service and Xinhua News Agency.

“For many young photographers, the Andrei Stenin contest has driven their career forward. They got a chance to receive feedback and see where they stand in the photography community. We invite young professionals from all over the world to participate and we wish them good luck,” Oksana Oleinik, supervisor of the Andrei Stenin International Press Photo Contest and head of the Photo Projects Desk at Rossiya Segodnya, said.

In 2017, the Andrei Stenin International Press Photo Contest was supported by major Russian and international media outlets, news agencies, as well as the photo community.

Partners in several categories included the Shanghai United Media Group (SUMG), the Al Mayadeen TV pan-Arabic news holding, and the International Red Cross Committee, one of the world’s largest humanitarian organizations.

The contest’s general information partners 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 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, and Frontline magazine. 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. (PR)