About the competition

The photo contest of the Russian Geographical Society was first held in 2015. It immediately set out to become the largest Russian wildlife photography contest. In the first year, 25 thousand participants sent about 200 thousand pictures. And in six years, the number of photos sent has increased to 570 thousand.

Any person can become a participant of the competition, regardless of place of residence, citizenship and age.

The only condition is that the photographs must be taken in Russia.

Philippe Ros

French cameraman, producer. One of the cameramen of the famous documentaries «Oceans» (2009) and «Inhabitants of the Oceans» (2011).

The photographers have succeeded in the impossible, as they managed to convey feelings through their works. I have been to Russia more than once and, being on the jury, I would recognise the familiar places, enjoy and delight in them. I regret not having made it to Chukotka as yet. I will definitely come there to see everything for myself.

Marco Urso

Italian wildlife photographer and travel photojournalist. Worked with National Geographic, Nature Images, Nature Best, Outdoor Photographer, Asferico, Nature, Oasis, Go Nordic.

I envy the contest participants. Russian nature has given them an incredible variety of stories and subjects. One special skill is to convey emotions and culture pattern through the photographs. If the author succeeds, then his work goes beyond the boundaries of everyday life and turns into art.

How to participate in the competition

1. Register on the website photo.rgo.ru or enter your personal account under an existing login.
2. Go through SMS authorization process.
3. Upload photos to the site. No more than 25 works.
4. In your personal account, keep track of how the experts evaluated your works, whether they pass to the semifinals and finals.
5. It should be pointed out that everyone, regardless of age and place of residence, can participate in the competition. The only condition is that all photographs must be taken in Russia.

How we evaluate works

• At the first stage, the photographs are evaluated by the members of the Expert Commission – these are 14 professional, reputable photographers and photo editors.

Sergey Poletaev

Aerial and architectural photographer. Winner of international photo awards and competitions: Sienna Awards-2020, 35 awards ("Air photographer-2019"), Agora Awards and others.

Ekaterina Vasyagina

Wildlife photographer and organizer of photo tours in Russia. Member of the Union of Wildlife Photographers, the Union of Photographers of Russia. Winner and finalist of the photo contests "The Most Beautiful Country", "Golden Turtle", "Wild Nature of Russia" and others. Co-founder of the PhotoJourneys.ru project.

Alexey Volkov

Wildlife photographer. Since 2008, he has been a member of the Macroclub, an international non-profit community of photographers and fans of macro photography. Laureate of numerous festivals and exhibitions, including "Golden Turtle", Moscow State University Science Festival, "Wild Nature of Russia", "Pristine Russia", Nature Images Awards. Member of the Union of Wildlife Photographers.

• Each work is evaluated by at least three experts on a 5-point scale.
• Works with an average score of 4+ go to the semifinals.
• 10 finalists in each category are selected from among the semifinalists at the in-person meeting of the Expert Commission.
• The experts do not know the authors of the works. This ensures an impartial assessment.

This is what the in-person meeting of the Expert Commission of the competition looks like.

Follow the progress of the competition
in your personal account

• You will receive an electronic participant certificate , as soon as the first uploaded photo passes pre-moderation for compliance with the terms of the competition.
• You will receive a notification and an electronic certificate of a semi-finalist , if the experts rate your work 4+
• You will receive an electronic certificate of the finalist, as soon as the Expert Commission decides on the 10 best (in their opinion) photos in each category.

Photo album "The Most Beautiful Country"