An album with the works of the finalists of the VI photo contest of the Russian Geographical Society "The Most Beautiful Country" has been published. The book contains photographs of talented photographers, professionals and amateurs, revealing the diversity and beauty of Russia. We present a new unique edition, which can already be purchased in the RGS store.
Being in the right place at the right time is only half the battle for a good shot. It is difficult to stop being surprised by the keen eye and patience of a photographer when you are holding the new album of "The Most Beautiful Country" in your hands. Is this all really Russia? Such a thought involuntarily arises when you look at the works of the contestants. Nevertheless, all the photos were taken on the territory of our country - this is the main condition of the project.
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"The Most Beautiful Country" is a large-scale photography contest, which has been held by the Russian Geographical Society since 2015. The project is dedicated to the preservation of the natural, historical and cultural heritage of Russia, the education of patriotism and careful attitude to the environment. There are no restrictions on the age and place of residence of the participants in the competition rules.
Over the years of the contest's existence, about 440 thousand photos have been uploaded to the project website. The largest number of photographs entered the contest in 2015 - 200 thousand photos from 25 thousand photographers. Acceptance of works for the VI Photo Contest "The Most Beautiful Country" started on October 14, 2019 and lasted until February 16, 2020. About 60 thousand photos came from the contestants. The oldest participant is 98, and the youngest is only 4 years old. There was held a special competition for photographers under 16 years old - "The Most Beautiful Country Through the Eyes of Children" with four categories: "Landscape", "Animal World", "Human World" and "Macro World".
The works of the contestants were judged by, among others, a film director Andrei Konchalovsky; musician and TV presenter Sergei Shnurov; People's Artist of Russia and soloist of the “Lyube” band Nikolai Rastorguev; director of the Pushkin State Museum of Fine Arts Marina Loshak; winner of the world's most prestigious wildlife photography contest Wildlife Photographer of the Year, photographer Sergei Gorshkov.
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Photographers competed in ten categories: "Landscape", "Wild Animals", "Macro World", "Underwater World", "These Funny Animals", "Russia from a Bird's Eye View", "Many Faces of Russia", "Shot with a Smartphone", " Live Archive" and "Photo Project ". The newest and most unusual category is "Live Archive". Its participants were offered to take modern photographs, repeating archival photographs of the 19th - first half of the 20th century. For this, the archive of the Russian Geographical Society, as well as the partners of the contest - the TASS news agency and the Russian State Archive of Film and Photo Documents - provided more than 500 original photographs.
In addition to the ten main categories, a special category "Water Energy of Russia" and "People's Choice Award" were approved - its owner was chosen by direct voting on the Internet from among the finalists.
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Whatever category the contestants participated in, each of them strove to capture in their works the unique nature, all the historical and cultural wealth of our country: the inhabitants of the deep sea, amazing birds and animals, the icy expanses of the Russian Arctic and original portraits of the inhabitants of a Dagestan village. What moments have been captured! Today they can be seen at exhibitions in Russia and around the world - in China, USA, France, Italy, Serbia, Romania, Poland, Armenia. And, of course, in the photo album published by the Russian Geographical Society.
You can buy the photo album of the winners of the VI Photo Contest "The Most Beautiful Country" in the Russian Geographical Society store on New Square in Moscow or at shop.rgo.ru.