The Russian Geographical Society announces the start of accepting works for the IX photo contest "The Most Beautiful Country". The traditional international campaign is dedicated to the preservation of the wildlife of Russia and fostering respect for the environment. You can send your beautiful photos to the project website from January 11 to April 16, 2023.
Over the years of its existence, "The Most Beautiful Country" has become the largest and most emotional Russian wildlife photo contest. A huge and impressive picture is formed from the works of the participants. It makes you want to travel, make discoveries, admire and be proud of your vast and multinational Homeland.
The main theme of the RGS photo contest remains nature, however, in some categories, the authors have the opportunity to introduce their fellow countrymen, compatriots, tell their life story, show the viewer people living nearby, admire their work and creativity.
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Each category is like a portal to an amazing and attractive world that can be explored endlessly: "Landscape", "Wild Animals", "Birds", "Elemental Magic", "Russia from a Bird's Eye View", "Faces of Russia", "Live Archive", "Art of Wildlife (fine-art photography)", "Macroworld", and "Taken on a Smartphone".
The new partners of the contest are the Elena and Gennady Timchenko Foundation (category "Men of Action") and the Russian State Library ("Live Archive").
Participation is free. Both a professional photographer and an amateur can become a participant. The place of residence, citizenship, and age of the participants do not matter. The only condition is that the photos must be taken on the territory of Russia.
We expect that in 2023 the number of works will increase due to the activity of those photographers who participated in the competitions of the regional branches of the Russian Geographical Society. "The Most Beautiful Country" is gaining popularity among young participants under the age of 16, inclusive. Since 2018, a separate competition has been held for them.
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All submitted works will be reviewed by the Expert Commission consisting of professional photographers and photo editors. The experts will determine the finalists in each category, after which the Jury members will choose the winners.
The Jury traditionally includes famous photographers, film directors, actors, art critics. In 2023, the winners will be determined by the following judges: Sergei Shoigu, President of the Russian Geographical Society; Sergei Gorshkov, Russian wildlife photographer; Ivan Wagner, test cosmonaut of Roscosmos; Sergei Garmash, theater and film actor, director and screenwriter; Vladimir Mashkov, Russian theater and film actor, director and producer; Marko Urso, Italian wildlife photographer; Olga Michi, Russian photographer; Andrew Parkinson, British photographer; Konstantin Shatenev, wildlife photographer, winner of the VIII Photo Contest in the category "Wild Animals"; Sergei Anisimov, travel photographer.
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The winners in the main categories will receive 250,000 rubles each. The works of all finalists will be published in a colorful photo album and will take part in exhibitions around the world.
The annual photo contest "The Most Beautiful Country" is a large-scale media project of the RGS dedicated to the preservation of Russia's wildlife and fostering respect for the environment. It was first held in 2015. In eight years of the competition's existence, more than 622,000 works have been received.
The official website of the contest is photo.rgo.ru.