The Grand Prize in the Sony Sony Photo Contest. Stenin 2021 was shared by reporters from America and Turkey

Andrei Stenin International Photojournalism Competition has announced its Grand Prix winner. In 2021 two works won the main award at once: a photographic series “M+T” by the St. Petersburg photographer Maria Gelman and a single photo by the Turkish reporter Shebnem Koshkun “New danger for the underwater world: COVID-19 waste”. The announcement of the Grand Prize and the shortlisted entries was made during an online ceremony at the multimedia press center of Rossiya Segodnya media group, the organizer of the contest.

Speaking about the 2021 contest entries, Dmitry Kiselyov, General Director of the Rossiya Segodnya news agency, said: “Photography is a very honest, conservative art these days. In order to take a picture, you need to be close to the hero. And it could be war, civil conflict. Andrey Stenin found himself in almost all hot spots of the world in the same way”.

Both works, which won the Grand Prix, are heartfelt and vivid stories told in the language of photography.

The “M+T” series is a touching love story about an elderly couple with Down syndrome in the social village “Svetlana,” where people with different mental and physical developmental disabilities live freely together with caregivers and volunteers. The idea that love has no borders was the centerpiece of the series, which Maria Gelman has been shooting in Leningrad region for over a year. Speaking about her participation in the contest, the author emphasized:

“For me, participation in the Andrei Stenin contest is an opportunity to draw public attention to the social theme of my research, to share my vision, an opportunity for dialogue. Every year I submit my works to this contest with a professional international jury, because it is a great platform for a statement, decent financial support for young photographers and a quality approach to the exhibition of winners”.

&copy Maria Gelman, from the “M+T” series

Another Grand Prize 2021 winner was the solo photo of Turkish journalist Shebnem Koshkun, in which freediver Shahika Erciyumen, a member of the UN Underwater World Development Programme, dives into the Bosphorus. Speaking about her work, Shebnem emphasized that she wanted to make the shooting special.

“My goal was to express my opinion and point out the problem,” notes the author. – For many years now, I’ve been working on the issue of marine pollution by plastic waste and microplastics. Even before the pandemic we could not cope with the huge amount of plastic in our ecosystem, and it has only been around for 60-70 years. The photo was taken in the Bosphorus Strait. I was going to look for garbage in the process of diving. But you didn’t have to look for it: it was everywhere.

&copy Shebnem Koshkun, “A New Danger for the Underwater World: COVID-19 Waste

At the online ceremony, the prizes for the 2021 laureates were also announced. Ruth Eichhorn Germany , independent curator and photo editor, former photo director of the German version of GEO, spoke about the winning entries:

“2020 was a truly unique year in history, for many reasons. Most of the photographers did not have a chance to travel and therefore completed or even started their projects and assignments. So my expectations were more modest than usual. Nevertheless, already the first pictures made me enthusiastic. Storytelling will always be relevant. It may change and evolve, but it will not die. Every generation has a story to tell. Photography – the universal language of our time, which does not need translation.

Ruth also noted that “… the selected works are not just an overview of world events. It’s a photo journey, a visual puzzle that pays tribute to photographers and their point of view.”.

Selected works of the winners of the contest-2021 can be seen from early to mid-October on Gogolevsky Boulevard in New York in the form of a street exhibition.

&copy Joshua Iruandi, “The Human Price of COVID-19”

&copy Chandan Khanna, from the “Schism” series

In the category “Breaking News” the first place went to “The Human Cost of COVID-19”, a poignant visual epitaph to all the victims of the coronavirus pandemic by photojournalist Joshua Iruandi from Indonesia, and “Split”, a story by Indian photographer Chandan Khanna about the protests in Minneapolis, USA, in spring and summer of 2020.

&copy Chang Xu, “Vasaloppet China 2020.”

&copy Luis Tato, “The plague of locusts in East Africa

Photojournalist Chang Xu’s intricate photographic ligature from the Wassaloppet China 2020 Ski Festival site won best single photo in the “My Planet” category. A documentary chronicle of a humanitarian catastrophe of unprecedented scale in the last 25 years “The Locust Invasion in East Africa” by the Spaniard Luis Tato, multiple prize-winner of the Stenin Art Competition in different years, including the series “Portrait”, won the victory in this nomination. Stenin Award in various years, including the Grand Prix in 2020.

&copy Muneba Time, “Parkour on the Ruins”

&copy Daria Isayeva “Home Olympics”

In the sports category, the best single work was “Parkour on the Ruins” by Syrian reporter Muneb Taym. Among the series of the nomination won the photo story of American Daria Isayeva “Home Olympics” – a distance photo shoot with the athletes who did not stop the pre-Olympic training at home quarantine last summer.

&copy Sergey Bobylev “Faces of our time”

&copy Sharafat Ali, from “Kashmir: A Controversial Legacy” series.

In the category “Portrait. Hero of Our Time” – first place went to photojournalists from America and India. In the single category, American photographer Sergei Bobylev’s “Faces of Our Time,” a sign of boundless respect for the doctors who saved lives during the coronavirus pandemic, won. Among the stories in this category the best was a black and white photo report “Kashmir: a disputed heritage” by an independent photographer from India Sharafat Ali.

In keeping with tradition, special prizes were established for the contestants. In 2021 prizes were awarded in three categories – “Top News”, “My Planet” and “Portrait. A hero of our time”. Partners in the nominations were leading international media such as the United Shanghai Media Group USMG and the All-Arab News Holding Al-Mayadeen TV, as well as one of the world’s largest humanitarian organizations, the International Committee of the Red Cross ICRC .

&copy Alexander Yermochenko, “Bloody wound of Europe”

&copy Patrick Yunker, from the “Glory of Prevention” series

The best, according to the partners of the nominations, were: Joshua Iruandi’s single photo “Human Cost COVID-19” and Alexander Yermochenko’s photo series “The Bloody Wound of Europe”, which received a special prize from the International Committee of the Red Cross “For humanitarian photography” in the category “Top News”.

Patrick Junker’s series of portraits of doctors fighting COVID-19, “Glory of Prevention,” won a special prize from Al Mayadeen TV in the “Portrait” category. Hero of Our Time,” Louis Tato’s documentary chronicle “The Locust Invasion in East Africa” highly commended by the Shanghai United Media Group in the “My Planet” category .

The full list of the prizewinners is published on the website of the competition >