Contest in honour of slain Russian scribe to empower young photographers

A contest for young photographers has opened its doors for this year, in honour of Andrei Stemin, a photojournalist with Russian newswire, Rossiya Segodnya, who was killed in Ukraine in August 2014. The contest, dubbed Andrei Stenin International Press Photo Contest for young photographers targets budding photographers aged between 18 and 33 from across the world. Entries were opened last month will be closed on February 28 and they can be submitted at stenincontest.com. The Andrei Stenin contest is the only competition in Russia that discovers new names in international photojournalism and develops quality standards for documentary photography. Contestants are competing in four categories - Top News, Sport, My Planet, and Portrait. A Hero of Our Time. However, according to organisers, 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; first, second and third place winners will be awarded 100,000 rubles (approx. Rwf1.5m), 75,000 rubles (Rwf1.1m) and 50,000 rubles (Rwf758,000), respectively. The Grand Prix winner will receive 700,000 rubles (Rwf10.6m). 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 to participants than the monetary award. “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 include 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, among many others. Last year, around 5000 entries by young photojournalists from 76 countries were submitted to the contest. Agencies