UNESCO Andrei Stenin International Press Photo Contest 2025 (RUB 700,000 prize)

Get latest opportunities in your email

About UNESCO Andrei Stenin International Press Photo Contest

Photographs can be submitted in one of these categories:

• Top News: The main topic of entries in this category is significant occurrences in people’s lives as well as the lives of entire nations: important political and social events, news from conflict areas and catastrophe zones, and turning points in people’s lives.
• Sports: This category features submissions that capture the beauty of sporting events and situations like athletic triumphs and heartbreaking defeats.
• My Planet: This category comprises submissions from all over the world that showcase the full spectrum of subjects and visuals. By combining images from everyday life, the lifestyles of great cities and small villages, nature pictures, ethnographic and religious holidays, and scenes from everyday life, the author hopes to capture ordinary life in all of its eternal beauty and harmony.
• Portrait. A hero of our time: Portraits of individuals or groups of individuals fall under this genre. Both candid and staged photos are acceptable. The deciding element in this area is the author’s capacity to unveil the inner world of his characters, communicate their mental traits and personality via the distinctiveness of their look, and give them a general appearance.

• Sponsor Organisation: UNESCO

Benefits of UNESCO Andrei Stenin International Press Photo Contest

Prizes of the contest:

• To be given as the Grand Prize is RUB 700,000.
• For a single photo image or a series of photos, the top prize in each category is RUB 125,000.
• Each category’s second-place winner for a single photo image or a collection of photos will get RUB 100,000.
• The third-place winner in each category for a single photo image or a series of photos will get RUB 75,000.
• Sponsors or partners of the contest may provide additional prizes.

UNESCO Andrei Stenin International Press Photo Contest Requirements

• Any professional photographer from any nation may apply.
• When submitting their photo image(s) to the contest, contestants must be at least 18 years old and no older than 33.
• The contestant may only submit one photo in each category (Series of Images).
• Entry into the tournament is free.

Requirements:

• A single photo or a sequence of up to 12 images may be included in an entry.
• It is ok to make minor adjustments to the image’s crop, white balance, or density (brightness, contrast).
• Images collaged, framed, or significantly photoshopped—with parts of the image altered, removed, or substituted with another image—won’t be allowed.
• JPG-format photos will be uploaded. No compression larger than ten will be permitted. The image’s dimensions must be 5,700 pixels wide and no less than 2,200 pixels long.
• The author’s first and last name, the photograph’s title, and the year it was shot must all be included in the file name, all of which must be separated by underscores, for instance, 01 Smith James The Spring 2011. Latin script must be used to name the file.
• There is a 20 MB limit on the size of the file.
• All EXIF information must be present in the file as well.
•  Photographs taken before After January 1, 2024, cannot be submitted. A sequence of photos started in a prior year may be approved in extraordinary cases. In this scenario, the last image in the sequence was a shot series in 2024 or 2025.

Evaluation Procedure:

The Contest Jury, made up of well-known photographers worldwide, will decide the winners in each category after four rounds.

• First round: From all qualified submissions, contest entries are chosen for the semifinals.
• Second round: Selection of the winners.
• Choosing the Winners and Runners-up in the third round.
• The Grand Prize winner is chosen in the fourth round.

Criteria

• Originality
• Integrity
• Imaginative strategy
• Observance of the contest’s topic or category requirements.

Application Date and Process

• Click on the link to the application website to register and submit an entry.

Application Deadline

28 February, 2025

Scholarship Application Portal

View details of UNESCO Andrei Stenin International Press Photo Contest

Apply for UNESCO Andrei Stenin International Press Photo Contest