View of the World Through Sun and Rain: Winners of the Plein Air Photo Contest at the Castle of Mir Announced

The project was carried out by EZERIN COM, a leading communications agency in Belarus. The first stage, held on a sunny day on May 18, was meant for professionals only. 128 works were submitted to the contest by 16 participants. According to the viewers' voting at holiday.by, the photo by Natalia Kovsh, Senior Teacher of the Academy of Arts, became the winner. In its own turn, the project jury considered Denis Usenko's work to be the best one. The works by Vitaly Brusinsky, Dmitry Belsky, Valery Vedrenko, Sergey Gapon, Vadim Zdorovenov, Natalia Kovsh and Tatyana Tikhomirova were shortlisted.

The second stage, the youth plein air photo session, took place a week later. Amateurs aged 18 through 31 elected during the contest of 40 applications were invited to participate in it on May 25. This time the Christopher cyclone threatened to bring pouring rains and low temperatures, yet it did not alter the plans of the young photographers from Minsk, Zaslavl, Soligorsk, Baranovichi, Vitebsk and Mogilev region. 158 photos were submitted to the contest. According to the voting results, Artem Gizun, a translator from Spanish, was the winner. The jury awarded the top prize to Yana Kuchik, a student from Vitebsk. The jury shortlisted the works by Artem Gizun, Alexander Bychenko, Viktoria Gerasimova, Violetta Pavlovskaya, Yury Zabavchik, Svetlana Kozhukh, Daniil Litskevich, Alina Mayevskaya and Sergey Antipov.

The leaders of the viewers' voting were awarded with compact Samsung Galaxy Cameras and the winners according to the jury assessment got flagship Samsung NX-300 smart cameras. Tatyana Tikhomirova was given the special prize of the jury, the book "The Great Duchy of Lithuania" by Vladimir Orlov and Dmitry Gerasimovich.

Olga Popko, Director of the Mir Castle complex:

"The plein air photography contest won significant public response and one of its most important results is that a still bigger number of people (and not only in Belarus) saw the unique architectural harmony of the Mir Castle, its surroundings and of the town of Mir itself. I also hope that plein air photography sessions will become a good tradition in Mir and Mir Castle. Both experienced photographers and beginners could come here to hunt for their rare shots."

Alexey Golub, Head of the IT-Telecom Department of Samsung representative office in Belarus:

"Professionals, just as well as amateurs, took quite a lot of interesting quality pictures worth the attention of a wide audience. In follow-up of the project, the company received valuable feedback on how its photo devices function, and those keen on photography gained the experience of using front-edge hybrid cameras that have already occupied their market niche. We hope to form a full-scale exhibition using the best works of the plein air photo session. Our task right now is to find a suitable venue to demonstrate the photos. We'd appreciate any unconventional creative suggestions!"

Mir Castle Complex is the unique monument of national culture of Belarus. In 2000 Mir Castle was included in the UNESCO List of World Cultural and Natural Heritage. The architectural complex of "Mir" is represented by Castle Museum of 16-20th centuries with 39 full exhibitions, embankments, beautiful parks and ponds, the chapel, the tomb of Prince Svyatopolk-Mirsky.

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