‘The most beautiful country’: the contest for best photos of Russia

The Russian Geographic Society announced the winners of its annual photo contest "The Most Beautiful Country". This year, almost 6,000 photographers, including photographers, amateurs and even kids, competed to win and the jury chose from almost 47,000 images. The adult winners will receive prize money, while the young winners will be given quadcopters for their success. 

1. A bear from Kamchatka Krai. Winner in the category, "Wild Animals".

"Heavy Time"

Konstantin Shatenev

2. This is one of Russia’s oldest monasteries, which still has 16th century frescoes by Dionisius who was a  student of Andrey Rublev's school of icon painting. A photo from the Vologda Region won the category, "Russia From a Bird's Eye View".

"A Foggy Morning near the Ferapontov Monastery"

Dmitry Arkhipov

3. Another photo from Kamchatka won for "Magic of the Element".

"Not the Silent Pacific Ocean"

Evgeny Vladimirov

4. A photo of an owl with incredibly expressive eyes won in the category, "Birds".

"In Ice Captivity"

Elena Pakhalyuk

5. What a tree! This photo won in the category, "Wildlife Art ( Art Photo)". 

"Nature is a Great Artist"

Alexander Razumov

6. A spider weaving its web won in the category, "Macromir".  

"The Center of the Universe"

Anatoly Plechisty

7. The photo was taken in the Altai Republic. Winner in the category, “Landscape”.

"The Barrier"

Nikolay Vasilyev

8. The photo of a jellyfish surrounded by mountains won in the category, "Underwater World".

"Aurelia"

Egor Nikiforov

9. The veteran's photo won in "Russia in Faces". 

"World War II Hero Ivan Meshcheryakov"

Yulia Borovikova

10. This is a special nomination in which photographers repeat archival images. This is a modern photo of Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky, and this is how it looked at the end of the 19th century. 

"Living Archive"

Alexander Maxin

Russian Geographic Society archive.

11. The photo won a special prize in "Reserved Russia".

"On Swan Lake."

Vladimir Ivanov

12. The photographer managed to capture the rarest Far Eastern leopard and won for"Rare animals in the wild".

"The Ghost of the Primorskya Taiga"

Svetlana Gorbatykh

13. This photo won the People’s Choice Award. 

"Star Wanderers"

Alexander Mikhailenko

14. A stunning photo that won in the children’s category, "Landscape". The photo was taken by a kid!

"Early Morning"

Georgy Lavrentyev

15. Another kid's photo. Birds on a tree were captured in the Kaluga Region and won in the category, "Animal World".

"Yellowhammers"

Ivan Gorshkov

16. Children's winner for "World from a bird's eye view". A herd of deer in the Orenburg Region.

"Roe Shadows"

Yaroslava Merkulova

17. The photo taken by the kid won in the category, "Natural Phenomena".

"Paws"

Xenia Marshalka

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