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The organizing committee of the ninth Andrei Stenin International Press Photo Contest has opened entries for its 2023 edition. The contest is named after Andrei Stenin, a special photojournalist at Rossiya Segodnya who died in the summer of 2014 near Donetsk while on assignment.

Traditionally, the annual photo contest kicks off on Andrei Stenin's birthday, December 22.

The organizer chose to name the competition after the Russian photojournalist Andrei Stenin, in honor of his memory, having worked in red zones in our Arab World such as Egypt, Syria, Libya, and Gaza, and was martyred in August 2014 while covering the war in Ukraine, after winning the "Silver Camera" award in 2010 and 2013.

Professional photographers aged 18-33 can submit their work through stenincontest.ru (https://stenincontest.ru) in Russian, English (https://stenincontest.com), and Chinese (https://cn.stenincontest.com).

As in previous years, photo series and single photos can be submitted in four categories: Top News, Sport, My Planet, and Portrait: A Hero of Our Time.

One single photo and one photo series can be submitted for each of the four categories. The submission deadline is February 28, 2023.

In 2023, the contest will award 125,000, 100,000, and 75,000 rubles for first, second, and third place in each category, respectively. The winner of the contest’s highest award – the Grand Prix – will receive 700,000 rubles.

The annual contest, launched in December 2014, sees its mission in supporting young photographers and drawing public attention to the challenges of photojournalism today. It is a platform for young photographers – talented and sensitive individuals open to all things new – to highlight the people and events around the world.

The 2023 contest also continues the tradition of road shows, or touring exhibitions of the winning photos in Russian and foreign cities, as per Russian news agency RIA Novosti. Road shows provide an opportunity for young photojournalists to showcase their photos around the world and draw attention to the most pressing problems and challenges of our time. Since the launch of the contest in 2014, the exhibitions have traveled to over 40 cities in Europe, Asia, Latin America, Africa, and the Middle East.

"December is always filled with joy and excitement for the Andrei Stenin contest team: we are looking forward to receiving entries in the new year and hope our participants have new professional breakthroughs. A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step, as the proverb goes. The professional photography world values our contest. We have our own name, we are very proud of it and we will continue to follow our path only forward. And, of course, we wish all the new participants of our contest good luck and victory!" said Oksana Oleinik, the curator of the photo contest and the head of the Photo Projects Desk at Rossiya Segodnya.

The 2022 Andrei Stenin International Press Photo Contest was held with support from major Russian and international media outlets, news agencies, and the photo community. The Al Mayadeen Arab media network and the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) were its partners in several categories.

The Andrei Stenin International Press Photo Contest, organized by Rossiya Segodnya under the patronage of the Commission of the Russian Federation for UNESCO, serves as a platform for young photographers – talented and sensitive individuals open to all things new – to highlight people and events near us.

General media partners: VGTRK (National State Television and Radio Broadcasting Company) (Russia), SMOTRIM online-platform (Russia), Rossiya-Kultura TV channel (Russia),  Moskva-24 TV channel (Russia).

International media partners: Sputnik news agency and radio (International), RT TV channel and Al Mayadeen TV (Lebanon) Al Mayadeen website (International), Independent Media (South Africa), ANA (South Africa), Shanghai United Media Group (SUMG) (China), China Daily (China), and The Paper (China).  

Industry partners: Russian Union of Journalists (Russia), Young Journalists (Russia), Russian Photo (Russia), Photo-study.ru (Russia).