SUMG exhibits entries from Stenin photo contest
People browse winning photos during the exhibition at the SUMG building on Weihai Road.
The Shanghai United Media Group joined hands with Rossiya Segodnya (Russia Today) to host an exhibition of winning entries of the 2017 Andrey Stenin International Photo Contest.
The organizers received around 5,000 entries from 76 countries and regions this year, a record number since the competition was launched in 2015.
The exhibition, which kicked off today and will be running for 10 days, has 100 photographs on display from young reporters from China, Russia, Italy, Spain, Serbia and many other countries.
Alexander Shtol, director of photography at Russia Today, and one of the winners, Russian photojournalist Movsumov Anar, were present at the opening ceremony at the SUMG building on Weihai Road.
One of Anar’s photographs features children suffering from Down’s Syndrome. He said in Russia parents struggle to raise such children who are still not accepted by their peers as well as by the society.
“The situation of the children suffering from Down’s Syndrome is hard in Russia, and parents often refuse to raise them right from the time of birth. However, there are a lot of kind, compassionate people who often adopt these children,” said Anar.
He noted that the purpose of his work was to show people that raising a child with Down’s Syndrome was difficult but not impossible.
The black-and-white photo depicts six children practicing certain movements. Two girls on the foreground are moving their arms while the boy in the middle is holding his head, standing still and looking down, suggesting that children do their best to cooperate with each other and with the caretaker. It all looks easy but isn't at all.
The photos on display cover a variety of topics such as sports, politics, portrait and breaking news. Pictures of poor children in Spain and Africa are touching and thought-provoking.
“I think one of the most important purposes of photojournalism is to tell stories about the unknown and unsung people,” Anar said.
The exhibition has already traveled to Berlin, Rome and Istanbul besides Moscow.
Talented journalists, who haven’t taken part in the project yet, have a chance to show their works by submitting to the official website (stenincontest.com) from December 22.
