Winners of 2008 OSCE photo contest announced

VIENNA, 23 April 2008 - The winners of the 2008 OSCE photo contest "Waterways of life" were announced today.

The main prize was awarded to Andrey Shapran of Russia for a photo of fishermen taken in August 2007 on the river Bol'shaya, near the town Oktiabrsky on the Kamchatka peninsula.

Kamchatka is one of the last salmon strongholds on earth, and fish runs have always been crucial for the peninsula's economy. Local authorities and wildlife activists understand that sustainable fishing can last generations, and are working on preventing the remaining stocks of the wild Pacific salmon from declining.

"The winning image of the 2008 OSCE photo contest - a stunning moment that shows fishermen at work - was part of the project "Lands at the edge of the world" that Andrey Shapran has been working on for several years. He has visited many regions of the Far East of Russia," said Ambassador Antti Turunen, the Chairperson of the Permanent Council.

Organized on the initiative of the Organization's Finnish Chairmanship, the contest was open to photographers living or working in the OSCE region.

The winning images can be viewed at: 2008 OSCE photo contest "Waterways of life"

Runners-up included: Giorgi Darchiashvili (Georgia), Bela Szandelszky (Hungary), Darrin Zammit Lupi (Malta) and Robert Galbraith (USA).

Honourable mention: Ludmila Prokopova (Belarus), Sergey Shakhidzanyan (Russia), German Avagyan (Armenia), Anatoli Kliashchuk (Belarus), Sultan Iskhakov (Russian), Martin Wade (USA).

"The contenders showed a truly creative approach to the theme "Waterways of life". There were many strong images, including a photograph of a man clinging to the top of a vehicle before being rescued by the U.S. Coast Guard from the flooded streets of New Orleans, in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. Another depicted Maltese Armed Forces marines tossing bottles of water to illegal immigrants as a rescue operation gets underway after their vessel ran into engine trouble," added Ambassador Turunen.

The winner will receive a Nokia multimedia computer with a camera, and runners-up will receive cash prizes of Euro 500 each.

The winning photographs were chosen from a total of around 700 images, submitted by 115 professional and amateur photographers from 31 out of the 56 OSCE participating States. The judging took place at the OSCE Secretariat in Vienna.

The contest was held to mark the 16th OSCE Economic and Environmental Forum, which will be held in Prague from 19 to 21 May. An exhibition of the winning images will be displayed at the Forum and featured on the OSCE website. This year the theme of the Forum is "Maritime and inland waterways co-operation in the OSCE area: increasing security and protecting the environment."