Splinters of broken silence

• Prize
• Photographer
  Valery Melnikov, Russian Federation
• Website
  http://valerymelnikov.com/index.php?/

Syria continues to sink in blood of own people, to collapse from
explosions and attacks. Civil war goes four years. According to
official data the price is 130000 deceased and about 4000
missing. The future of Syria and its citzens is still covered with a
thick smoke of the next projectile.

• Biography
  He has dedicated himself to documenting the political and social life of societies in conflict. Valery’s professional biography includes coverage of Chechen war, conflict between Georgia and South Ossetia, Lebanese war in 2006, uprising of Mali Republic, Syrian civil war. In 2014, Valery began documenting war in Eastern Ukraine. This work continues in his current ongoing project, Black days of Ukraine, about ordinary civil people who became the participants of the military confrontation against their will.
• Awards
  018 — World Press Photo, Netherlands, 2nd Prize 2017 — World Press Photo, Netherlands, 1st Prize 2017 —The Prix de la Photographie PX3, France, 1st Prize 2017 — Life Framer Photography Award, USA, 1st Prize 2017 — Circle of Life contest, International Photo festival “Vilnius Photo Circle”, Lithuania, Finalist 2017 — Lense Culture, Exposure Awards, USA, Finalist 2016 — Bourse Du Talent, France, Winner 2016 — Magnum Photography Awards, USA, Winner 2016 — Prix International des Nouvelles Ecritures, France, Winner 2016 — Fine Art Photography Awards, USA, 2nd Prize in Photojournalism category 2016 — Circle of Life contest , International Photo festival “Vilnius Photo Circle”, Lithuania, Winner 2016 — Pictures of the Year International (POYI), USA, Award of Excellence in Portrait series and Award of Excellence in Multimedia news story 2016 — Bayeux-Calvados Award for War Correspondents, Finalist 2015 — LensCulture Visual Storytelling Awards, USA, 1st Prize 2015 — Kontinent photography Awards, Turkey, Honorable mentions 2015 — Direct Look photo contest, FOTODOC Center for Documentary Photography, Russia, 2nd Prize 2015 — Leica Oscar Barnack Award, Germany, Finalist 2015 — Sony World Photography Awards, UK, 2nd Prize in the current affairs category 2015 — Kolga Award, Kolga Tblisi Photo, Georgia, 1st Prize in the reportage category 2015 — DAYS Japan International Photojournalism Awards, Japan, 2nd Prize 2015 — China International Press photo contest (CHIPP), 1st Prize in the War & Disaster News Singles and 1st Prize in the War & Disaster News Stories 2014 — Professional Photographer of the Year Contest, UK, 1st Prize in the News category 2014 — China International Press photo contest (CHIPP), 1st Prize in the Portraits category and 2nd Prize in the People in the News category