Sputnik Photojournalist Wins 2021 World Press Photo Award With Nagorno-Karabakh Series

Russian photographer Valery Melnikov from Sputnik won the prestigious 2021 World Press Photo award with his photo series "Paradise Lost," about the people of Nagorno-Karabakh during the conflict of late 2020

MOSCOW (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 15th April, 2021) Russian photographer Valery Melnikov from Sputnik won the prestigious 2021 World Press Photo award with his photo series "Paradise Lost," about the people of Nagorno-Karabakh during the conflict of late 2020.

Melnikov's photo series took 1st prize in the General News/Stories category. There were a total of 45 winners from 28 countries across 8 categories.

In 2017, Melnikov won the World Press Photo Long-Term Projects top prize with his "Black Days of Ukraine" series about the war in eastern Ukraine. The second part of his Ukraine war series, "Underground", about the residents of a ruined village in eastern Ukraine, earned him the Digital Storytelling Short Form silver in 2018.

World Press Photo is the largest and most prestigious annual photojournalism award, often likened to the Oscars of visual journalism.

This year was the first time that the World Press Photo Foundation Foundation carried out the judging virtually, due to the pandemic. Contestants included 4,315 photographers from 130 countries, with a total of 74,470 images in the contest.

Valery Melnikov is the winner of numerous prestigious awards in photojournalism. His works have been shortlisted and have won many international and Russian photo contests, including 2017 World Press Photo; 2016 Magnum Photography Awards; 2017 Life Framer; 2016 Pictures of the Year International; Sony World Photography Awards 2015; Days Japan International Photo Journalism Award 2015; China International Press Photo Contest 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016; Bourse du Talent 2016; Vilnius Photo Circle 2015; Kolga Tbilisi Photo 2015; Professional Photographer of the Year 2014; 2017 Golden Eye of Russia; and Silver Camera 2013, among others.