Hosted at FORM, The Andrei Stenin International Press Photo Contest exhibition is now officially open!
The Andrei Stenin International Press Photo Contest (www.stenincontest.com) is an annual contest for young photojournalists aged between 18 and 33. The contest was founded on December 22, 2014 by the Rossiya Segodnya International Information Agency under the auspices of the Commission of the Russian Federation for UNESCO. The contest is named after Andrei Stenin, Rossiya Segodnya special photojournalist who died in the line of duty.
This year, Orms is extremely proud to have not only printed the winning images as in previous years, but also to be hosting the opening night at FORM! The competition is aimed at supporting young photographers and promoting the goals of contemporary photojournalism.
In 2019 young photographers from 80 countries scattered. The 2019 winners include young photographers from Russia, Germany, Spain, Italy, India, Iran, South Africa, Turkey, Egypt, Bangladesh, Belarus, the Philippines, France, the US, China, Portugal and Mexico. The number of foreign contestants is growing annually, and in 2019 the share of Russian to foreign entries was 37 to 63 percent compared with 48 to 52 percent last year. The greatest number of submissions came from photographers from Russia, Iran, India, Spain, Egypt, Mexico, and Bangladesh.
About 6000 entries from young photographers were assessed by leading figures in international and Russian photography and art.
The 2018 winning photos were exhibited in Moscow, Cape Town, Shanghai, Beirut, Weihai, Madrid, Brussels, New York and other cities.
Submissions opened on December 22 2018, on Andrei Stenin’s birthday, let's take a look at the main categories as well as this year's winners...
Main criteria and categories
Photojournalists aged between 18 and 33 can take part in the competition. In 2019, the main categories are
1. Top news.
This category features important events in the lives of individuals and nations: leading political and social events, reports from war zones and natural disaster sites, as well as decisive moments in people’s lives.
2. Sports.
This category involves entries that feature moments in sport: athletes’ victories and dramatic defeats, regular training and the beauty of sports competitions.
3. My planet.
This category features works reflecting the entire multicoloured palette of topics and images from all over the world. The author’s task is to show an everyday life kaleidoscope in its timeless beauty and harmony, uniting scenes from everyday life; the life of big cities and small towns, images of nature, ethnic and religious holidays.
4. Portrait. A Hero of Our Time.
This category features individual or group portraits. Photos can be documentary or staged. The determining factor in this category is the author’s ability to reveal the inner world of their characters, express their mental qualities and character through the uniqueness of their appearance and image as a whole.
5. Inspiration.
The photos in this category focus on using the camera to capture the positive creative energy that accompanies the creative process. Any work that was inspired or became the manifestation of inspiration itself, whether it’s a landscape, a colorful genre or ethnic shot, or a portrait of a child or adult taken in different styles using various techniques, are eligible to participate.
The jury will select winners of the first, second and third place for a single photo and winners of the first, second and third place for a series. Some works can receive jury honorary mention. One of the photographers on the shortlist will receive the Grand Prix and will be announced at the official award ceremony.
Photographs must have been taken after January 1, 2018. In exceptional cases, series of photographs started in previous years are accepted. In such case, the last photograph of the series must have been taken in 2018 or 2019.
Winners
In 2019, the Grand Prix winner became Gabriele Cecconi (Italy) for the photo series, “The Wretched and the Earth.”
Jury
The jury will comprise the world’s renowned photographers famous for their ability to present diverse views on the world.
2019 jury board: James Hill,The New York Times photographer since 1995; Peter Bitzer, renown German photographer; Juan Arredondo, Colombian American documentary photographer, Cho Bo Hee, Deputy department head at the leading Korean news agency Yonhap; Alice Gabriner, head of photography and international photo editor at TIME since 1999; Sergei Ilnitsky, staff photographer for EPA in Moscow since 2003.
Interesting facts
The 2015 Grand Prix winner Yelena Anosova won the 2017 World Press Photo Award, the world’s most renowned photo contest.
Alexei Filippov, the winner of the 2015-2017 contest in the Sports category, won the Istanbul Photo Awards international contest of news and sports photography.
Italian photographer Danilo Garcia Di Meo won the 2016 Grand Prix for a series featuring a paralyzed young woman, Letizia. The jury was moved by her story and provided Letizia the opportunity to visit Russia where she could tell her story and inspire those who were facing the same problems.
The winner of the 2016 contest in the Sports category Vladimir Astapkovich won the annual International Photography Awards (IPA)
