The Russian Geographical Society has determined the winners of the VII photo contest “The most beautiful country”

The jury members of the photo contest "The most beautiful country" determined the winners in 14 main nominations. Their names will be announced at the V Festival of the Russian Geographical Society, which will be held from August 18 to 28, 2022 in the very center of Moscow, on the territory of Zaryadye Park.

Also, at the main geography festival in the capital of Russia, the winners of the special prizes of the photo contest "The most beautiful country" will be named. The audience award will be given to the photographer whose work was recognized as the best during the open online voting, which was held from May 23 to June 6, 2022 on the website of the photo contest.

VTB Bank has determined the winner of the prize "Reserved Russia" for the best picture taken in specially protected natural areas. The organizers of the photo contest of the winner of the special prize "Behind the scenes" for the best video made during the filming of a particular photo.

In 2022, the VIII Photo Contest "The Most Beautiful Country" received a total of 46,893 images from 5,934 authors. The most popular nomination was "Landscape" (23,805 works were submitted). 3691 photos claimed the victory in the nomination "Birds", "Macrocosm" — 3723 photos, "Russia in faces" — 2958 photos.

The annual photo contest "The Most Beautiful Country" is a large—scale media project of the Russian Geographical Society dedicated to the preservation of Russia's wildlife and fostering respect for the environment. It was first held in 2015. For seven years of the competition's existence on the project's website photo.rgo.ru more than 500 thousand works were uploaded.

At the VIII Photo Contest of the Russian Geographical Society "The most beautiful country", works were accepted in ten categories: "Landscape", "Wild animals", "Birds", "Russia from a bird's-eye view", "Art of Wildlife (art photo)", "Russia in faces", "Macrocosm", "Underwater World", "Living Archive" and "Magic of the Elements". Young authors (under the age of 16) they could send their pictures in four categories: "Landscape", "Animal World", "Bird's-eye view of the World" and "Natural Phenomena".

Three special prizes have also been established: "Behind the scenes" — the prize for the best short video telling the story of the creation of a particular photo, "Audience Award" — its owner was chosen on the Internet by open voting and "Reserved Russia" — the prize from the partner of the contest — VTB Bank — will be awarded to the author of the best frame taken in specially protected natural territories.