40-strong short list for 2021 Grand Prix unveiled in photo contest commemorating slain journalist Stenin
Organizers of the Andrei Stenin annual contest have selected the 40 best works from some 4,500 submissions they received this year. The contest commemorates a Russian photojournalist killed in Ukraine in 2014.
Works by the current finalists are reflective of the dramatic nature of the year that has passed, organizer Oksana Oleynik said of the short list. Contestants “did not just indicate a problem, but also used various photography instruments to encourage the viewers to think and talk about these problems, and also to try to find solutions to them.”
The 40 images spread across four categories have come from all around the world, produced by journalists from 17 nations. For the first time, photographers from Indonesia, Mexico and Canada have made it to the list of finalists, which was unveiled on Wednesday.
The moments caught by their cameras include a protest by a masked activist in Canada demanding rights for black people, a riot of asylum-seekers in Greece angered by the murder of one of them, a locust invasion in Africa and the training routine of a Turkish swimmer eager to compete for her nation in the Paralympic Games.
The jury is to announce the winner of this year’s Grand Prix in September. Meanwhile, the short-listed photographs will tour the world for a series of exhibitions.
The Andrei Stenin contest is meant to inspire young photojournalists. It is backed by the Russian Commission to UNESCO, the UN’s body for education, culture and science; and by a number of international media organizations, including RT.
It is named for a Russian journalist who was killed in 2014 while covering the armed conflict in eastern Ukraine, after a civilian group he was travelling with reportedly came under fire from the Ukrainian military.
If you like this story, share it with a friend!
