Jury 2016

Irina Chmyreva 

Russian fine arts expert; Senior Researcher, Institute of Theory and History of Art at the Russian Academy of Arts. Curator, In Support of Photography in Russia Project, Iris Foundation; Art Director, international photography festival PhotoVisa in Krasnodar, Russia; Member of international editorial boards, European Photography, Germany, IMAGO, Slovakia, and Fotografia/Kwartalnik, Poland; Curator of national and international exhibition projects; writer on archive (stock) and contemporary photography.

Xenia Nikolskaya   

Russian-swedish photographer; Curator of international exhibition projects; Member of the Russian Artists’ Union; Curator of the ROSFOTO Russian National Centre of Photography, Head of Rossiya Segodnya exhibition project department. Taught photography at the Russian Academy of Arts in St. Petersburg, American University in Cairo, and Rutgers University, New Jersey. Took part in more than 40 international exhibitions, 20 of them solo shows. Her works are preserved at the State Hermitage Museum in St. Petersburg. Author of the books Dust: Egypt’s Forgotten Architecture and Anatoly Garanin, Soviet Union.

Yury Kozyrev   

Russian photojournalist. Worked in all major armed conflicts in the post-Soviet area for the last 25 years, including the two Chechnya wars, and also in Iran, Afghanistan, Libya and Yemen. Many times winner and jury member of World Press Photo.

Valery Melnikov

Rossiya Segodnya special correspondent; winner of many national and international photo contests, particularly World Report Award, Days Japan International Photo Journalism Award 2015, CHIPP 2015, Visual Storytelling Awards 2015, Professional Photographer of the Year 2014, and China International Press Photo Contest, 2013 and 2014, Sony WAP 2015, KOLGA TBILISI PHOTO 2015, Silver Camera 2013 and other contests.

Ruth Eichhorn   

Director of Photography at German GEO magazine, 20 years. Now GEO’s Photo Editor-at-Large, GEO publishes scientific, sociological, and geographical content, and is recognized for quality photography. Eichhorn has organized many exhibits and edited a range of photo books. Member of international photo juries. Also curates books and exhibits outside of GEO.

Denis Paquin    

Since 2010, the Associated Press Deputy Director of Photography. A veteran of news photography, he has worked in various continents around the world, both as a photographer and photo manager for various organizations including the Associated Press, Reuters and United Press International.  He has been involved in the coverage and planning of major events including 9 Winter and 7 Summer Olympics, 5 World Cup soccer championships, various U.S. presidential conventions and inaugurations, civil strife around the globe, world summits, and many other national and international news and sporting events in the United States and internationally.

Aldo Mendichi   

Italian photographer, organizer of educational courses and seminars. Since 2011, jury member of World Report Award – Italian Photo Journalism Award. Organizer of the Festival of Ethical Photography in Lodi, Italy. Since 2013, President, Photography Association of Lodi.  Enthusiast of social photography.

Zheng Wei   

Vice Director, Photographic News Department of Xinhua News Agency. He reported from Egypt, Israel and Palestine during his assignment at the Xinhua's Middle East Bureau. He now mentors photographic news editing at Xinhua headquarters and is in charge of the agency's overseas photo reports.