THE Andrei Stenin photo contest is now accepting photos from young photojournalists around the world. Applications can now be submitted to the stenincontest.comwebsite through March 22, 2017. Photographers of 18 to 33 years of age qualify to take part. The Andrei Stenin photo contest was established by Rossiya Segodnya under the auspices of Russia’s Commission for UNESCO. It is Russia’s only platform to discover new names and supports young professional photographers.

The 2017 contest will showcase four categories for which young photographers can vie for awards: “Top News” and “Sport”, “My Planet” and “Portrait. A Hero of Our Time”. The 1st, 2nd and 3rd prizes amount to 50,000, 35,000 and 25,000 rubles, respectively, with the Grand Prix set at 500,000 rubles. Even more important is the opportunity for young photojournalists to showcase their works at Russian and international exhibitions.

The 2016 contest was the largest ever since its establishment. The jury had to choose from among 6,000 entries byyoung photojournalists from71 countries, including Russia. Winning photograpshave been shown in Moscow, Istanbul, Cape Town, Cairo, Shanghai and Beijing, Rome, Berlin, Maribor andLjubljana. The Grand Prix prize in the 2016 contest went to Italian photographer Danilo Garcia Di Meo for a photo series about paralyzed young woman, Letizia. The series won the hearts of the jury and, as a result, Letizia made her first ever foreign trip to Russia where she could tell her story in person and inspire those many people who live a similar life.

The 2016 contest was supported by major Russian and international media outlets, including Shanghai United Media Group.