Sputnik Photojournalist Wins World Press Photo Award

World Press Photo is the largest and most prestigious annual award in photojournalism. Sputnik photojournalist Valery Melnikov won the award for a series of photos about the conflict in southern Ukraine.

AMSTERDAM (Sputnik) — Amsterdam hosted the 2017 World Press Photo awards ceremony, the most prestigious photojournalism competition in the world. Valery Melnikov, Sputnik photojournalist and winner of multiple leading international photography contests, received the award for his series ‘Black Days of Ukraine’ in the Long-Term Projects category. The win is the second in two years for Sputnik following Vladimir Pesnya’s victory at last year’s awards for his ‘Vetluga Hockey’ series.

Three more Russian photojournalists received prizes at this year’s World Press Photo Awards: Yelena Anosova for  the ‘Out of the Way’ project in the Daily Life second prize stories category. Back in 2015, she won also the Grand Prix of the Andrei Stenin International Press Photo Contest. Kommersant photojournalist Kristina Kormilitsyna won a World Press Photo award for the photo ‘Fidelity in the People’, third prize singles category. Photojournalist, Pulitzer Prize winner Sergei Ponomaryov took second place in the General News category for a photo for The New York Times featuring an Iraqi family fleeing from Mosul.

Commenting on his award, Sputnik photojournalist, Valery Melnikov said: “For three years, I have travelled to Ukraine on business trips to photograph, analyse, and think about what I wanted to express through these photos. I don’t just photograph events; I bring meaning to every photo so that the viewer will contemplate both about the picture and the event. I’m very glad that photojournalism masters appreciated my work so highly.”

Sputnik special photojournalist Valery has won numerous prestigious awards in photojournalism. His works have been included on shortlists and have won many international and Russian photo contests, among them Magnum, Pictures of the Year International, Sony WAP 2015, Bourse du Talent 2016, Days Japan International Photo Journalism Award 2015, China International Press Photo Contest 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, World Report Award 2015, Vilnius Photo Circle 2015, Professional Photographer of the Year 2014, KOLGA TBILISI PHOTO 2015, Silver Camera 2013, and others.

1/7

© Sputnik / Ramil Sytdykov

/

Go to the mediabank

Valery Melnikov, Sputnik photojournalist and winner of multiple leading international photography contests, received the award for his series ‘Black Days of Ukraine’ in the Long-Term Projects category.

2/7

© Sputnik / Ramil Sytbykov

/

Go to the mediabank

Посетительница у стенда с работами специального фотокорреспондента МИА "Россия сегодня" Валерия Мельникова на открытии выставки победителей World Press Photo в Амстердаме.

3/7

© Sputnik / Valery Melnikov

/

Go to the mediabank

Местные жители в станице Луганская, подвегшейся авиационному удару вооруженных сил Украины.

4/7

© Sputnik / Valery Melnikov

/

Go to the mediabank

Местные жители спасаются от пожара, возникшего в результате авиационного удара вооруженных сил Украины по станице Луганская.

5/7

© Sputnik / Valeriy Melnikov

/

Go to the mediabank

A local resident near a car that was hit by a shell during an artillery attack by the Ukrainian Security Forces on the Lugansk - Krasnodon highway.

6/7

© RIA Novosti . Valeriy Melnikov

A house destroyed in the Ukrainian armed forces' air attack on the village of Luganskaya

7/7

© Sputnik / Valeriy Melnikov

/

Go to the mediabank

The relatives and friends of Vladimir Yermilov and his son, Vanya, both of whom were killed in a Ukrainian military artillery strike on the village of Luganskaya.

1/7

© Sputnik / Ramil Sytdykov

/

Go to the mediabank

Valery Melnikov, Sputnik photojournalist and winner of multiple leading international photography contests, received the award for his series ‘Black Days of Ukraine’ in the Long-Term Projects category.

2/7

© Sputnik / Ramil Sytbykov

/

Go to the mediabank

Посетительница у стенда с работами специального фотокорреспондента МИА "Россия сегодня" Валерия Мельникова на открытии выставки победителей World Press Photo в Амстердаме.

3/7

© Sputnik / Valery Melnikov

/

Go to the mediabank

Местные жители в станице Луганская, подвегшейся авиационному удару вооруженных сил Украины.

4/7

© Sputnik / Valery Melnikov

/

Go to the mediabank

Местные жители спасаются от пожара, возникшего в результате авиационного удара вооруженных сил Украины по станице Луганская.

5/7

© Sputnik / Valeriy Melnikov

/

Go to the mediabank

A local resident near a car that was hit by a shell during an artillery attack by the Ukrainian Security Forces on the Lugansk - Krasnodon highway.

6/7

© RIA Novosti . Valeriy Melnikov

A house destroyed in the Ukrainian armed forces' air attack on the village of Luganskaya

7/7

© Sputnik / Valeriy Melnikov

/

Go to the mediabank

The relatives and friends of Vladimir Yermilov and his son, Vanya, both of whom were killed in a Ukrainian military artillery strike on the village of Luganskaya.

World Press Photo is the largest and most renowned annual photojournalism prize. Over 80,000 pictures from 125 countries were submitted for this year’s contest. The photo exhibition of the winners will be held in 45 countries.