Moscow – The Andrei Stenin International Press Photo Contest for young photojournalists has selected its shortlist of for the 2017 contest. The annual event is organised by Rossiya Segodnya under the auspices of the Commission of the Russian Federation for Unesco.
The shortlist was selected by an international jury and includes photographers from 14 countries who will compete for the main prizes with the winners being announced on August 7 2017. The jury, chaired by Stern Director of Photography, Andreas Trampe, reviewed about 5 000 photos by contestants from 76 countries across four categories.
"This year’s entries for the Andrei Stenin Award were mostly of a high level of photography," said Trampe.
"Nearly all series, which we shortlisted in all four categories were even outstanding in quality, in terms of the relevance of the photographed stories and the quality of the photographic work."
"The strongest single image categories were ‘Top News’, followed by ‘Portrait: A Hero of Our Time’. The works about migrants and the coverage of the crises in Syria, Libya, and Ukraine were especially courageously covered. Some subjects which, on an initial viewing seemed unspectacular, were in fact very strong," Trampe added.
The prestigious international award for young photographers will be presented in the Autumn in Moscow. As in previous years, the winning photos will be displayed not only in Russia but also abroad until the end of 2017.
The 2016 contest received 6 000 entries of young photojournalists from 71 countries. Winning photographs have been exhibited in Moscow, Istanbul, Cape Town, Shanghai, Beijing, Cairo, Berlin, Rome, Maribor and Ljubljana.
This year the number of countries taking part has increased, securing the contest’s status as a prestigious international platform that discovers new names in world photography. The 2017 contest’s shortlist was selected by award-winning representatives from the Russian and international photography community.
Alexander Shtol, Director of the Rossiya Segodnya Integrated Directorate of Photography, said: “The entries are becoming stronger and more mature each year, which indicates the growing professionalism of young photojournalists.”
Tramped added: "The photographers who are not on this year’s shortlist, should keep some points in mind for the next year. If their stories are focused strongly enough and answer to the following two criteria for a successful entry: What exactly is my story about? How can I present my story in a 12 image photo series with a lot of different photographic variation and with the one or other surprising image?"
Jury member, editor-in-chief of Xinmin Evening News Chen Qiwei commented: “The contest has shown its great international influence and professionalism. I am deeply impressed by the high quality of the pictures”.
Jury member, photo editor at Independent Media Ian Landsberg said: “This year's entries prove to be of an exceptionally high standard which is quite significant taken into consideration the young age of contestants (18-33 years) competing in a contest where the playing field is leveled for both young and experienced visual storytellers."
Worth mentioning is that the images submitted for this year's competition, irrespective of whether they've made the cut or not, highlight the desire and eagerness of these young photojournalists to visually tell their stories of life, living and the planet.
The Andrei Stenin International Press Photo Contest aims to support young photographers and to draw public attention to the challenges of photojournalism in today’s world. It is a platform for young photographers – talented, sensitive and open to all things new – who draw our attention to the people and events around us.