Filipino photojournalist wins in Russian photo tilt

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Photojournalists' Center of the Philippines (PCP) regular member, Basilio H. Sepe bagged 2nd place in the Top News, Singles category of the Andrei Stenin International Press Photo Contest recently given in Moscow, Russia.

Sepe captured the prize with his work on informal settlers scavenging recyclable materials in Navotas, Manila after Typhoon Karding hit the country in August of 2018. Italian photographer Gabriele Cecconi won the Grand Prize for his work on the Rohingya in Myanmar.

The Andrei Stenin International Press Photo Contest was launched by Rossiya Segodnya under the aegis of the Russian Commission for UNESCO. Its main goal is to support young photographers and draw public attention to the challenges of modern photojournalism.

Previously, Sepe has won the  IPA Filipino “Photographer of the Year in 2018 for his work on the Philippines drug war. The 24-year-old was a former chief photographer of the University of Santo Tomas’ The Varsitarian and an Angkor Photo Workshop 2016 alumni. Currently, he is an independent photographer based in Manila and has done multimedia work for various local and international news agencies.

The contest was participated in by photography professionals from 80 countries on all five continents with over 6,000 works submitted. The 2019 winners represent 17 countries: Russia, France, the Philippines, Germany, India, Italy, United States, Iran, Mexico, Turkey, South Africa, Bangladesh, Hong Kong, Portugal, Spain, Belarus, and Egypt. 

The ceremony was followed by the opening of an exhibition of the winning photos at the State Historical Museum that will run from September 11 through September 29.