MOSCOW - On the birthday of Rossiya Segodnya Special Photo Correspondent Andrei Stenin, the international contest commemorating him is now accepting photos from young photo journalists around the world.

Applications can now be submitted to the stenincontest.com website 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.

Alexander Shtol, Director of Rossiya Segodnya Photo Information Directorate, said: "The Andrei Stenin International Photo Contest is a chance for young photojournalists from around the world to make a name for themselves, to assess their skills and see what drives and thrills them most in this job and what they should pursue. The contest, with a jury of leading international photographers and photography experts, discovers new names and displays their works for the whole world to see. We are happy to welcome new contestants and wish them good luck!"

The 2016 contest was the largest ever since its establishment. The jury had to choose from among 6,000 entries by young photojournalists from 71 countries, including Russia. Winning photograps have been shown in Moscow, Istanbul, Cape Town, Cairo, Shanghai and Beijing, Rome, Berlin, Maribor and Ljubljana. 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 is supported by major Russian and international media outlets, news agencies and photo societies. Its general information sponsors are: The Rossiya K TV Channel (Russia Culture), KP.ru, the news and information portal jourdom.ru portal and the Russian Photo portal.

The contest's international information partners are: Sputnik News Agency and Radio, the Askanews news agency, EFE news agency, EBC, Notimex news agency, RT TV network and portal, The Royal Photographic Society, Shanghai United Media Group (SUMG), Xinhua news agency, Independent Media, ANTARA Foto press photo agency.

The contest's professional information partners are: the Academy of Photography, the agency Geophoto.ru , the photography educational website photo-study.ru, the Moscow Union of Journalists, the Union of Student and Youth Media, the portal Young Journalists and the Uglich Photo Parade festival.