MOSCOW, January 11. /TASS/. Entries for the News Photo Awards. A Changing World photo contest, organized by TASS Russian News Agency, are closed, the Corporate Communications Department said on Tuesday.

"Some 5,000 snapshots by journalists from 74 countries have been submitted to the contest," the department said. The biggest number of entries came from China, the United States, India, Turkey, Brazil, Spain and Russia.

"A Changing World took up the baton of the 2020 Overcoming COVID contest. However, if in 2020 the photo journalists’ focus was exclusively on the pandemic, in 2021 we wanted to get a broader view on what is happening on the planet. At the same time, it reflects global and local transformations affecting the lives of people and countries in this new normal and highlights all of the past year’s key events," said the jury’s chair, Grigory Dukor, who heads the Photo and Video Service at the TASS Russian News Agency.

According to him, it’s a challenging task even for a professional press photographer to show the transformation trends occurring across the world through photos.

"In addition to good luck and the capability to be at the right place and at the right time, which frequently involves significant risks, this requires an in-depth understanding of the story and the ability to recount and pass on what they saw to the audience. This is a challenge worthy of true professionals and it was accepted. Our entire contest gives photo reporters a great chance to gain broad recognition and convey their view of the world to the widest possible audience," he noted.

The international jury consisting of 12 seasoned experts representing the world’s major media outlets, including АА (Anadolu Agency), AFP, DPA, Xinhua, Kyodo, EFE, Yonhap, and TASS, will assess the contestants’ images over a month and select the winners.

The snapshots will be presented anonymously: only the titles and a brief description will be provided. This approach helps to make the vote as unbiased as possible.

The best picture out of all those sent in will be awarded the Grand Prize. The creator of this masterpiece will take home $10,000. The winners in every category will each get a $3,000 award. This year, there are four categories for the News Photo Awards. A Changing World: News, People & Lifestyle, Healthcare and Environment. The winners will be announced at the Expo 2020 Dubai in March 2022.

News Photo Awards. A Changing World is the second photo contest organized and held by TASS Russian News Agency. The first contest held in 2020 was entitled Overcoming COVID and focused on combating the coronavirus pandemic. This year, the Mastercard international payment system is the general partner of the News Photo Awards. A Changing World contest.