The XII Photo Contest of the Russian Geographical Society «The Most Beautiful Country» is gradually approaching the most important stage — the selection of the best works. On March 31, the organizing committee stopped accepting applications. Now the experts will have to evaluate tens of thousands of submitted photos and determine the finalists, and then give the floor to the jury of the project to select the most beautiful pictures taken in the most beautiful country.
In 2026, the Russian Geographical Society continues the more than 10-year history of the project, which demonstrates the beauty of nature, the richness of culture and history of Russia through the prism of photography. To visit places that can only be reached by helicopter, or to see what surrounds us on a daily basis, but escapes attention — all this becomes possible together with «The Most beautiful Country». In the course of the project’s existence, a large-scale collection has been accumulated — more than 841,000 works taken by amateur and experienced photographers using a smartphone and professional equipment in various parts of Russia.
«The contest is growing and developing. People stopped just photographing animals, and started thinking about artistic value. Environmental motifs have appeared, there is more good art photography, and photo stories are more common. There are many young people among the participants,» said Sergei Gorshkov, a member of the jury of the photo contest, a wildlife photographer.
Photo: Tomislav Rakichevich, participant of the contest of the RGS "The Most Beautiful Country"
«The Most Beautiful Country» really opens up new places on the map and attracts more and more people. This time, almost 10,000 people joined the project, including about 1,600 young authors participating in the «The Most Beautiful Country through the Eyes of Children» contest. Together they sent about 60,000 works. In these shots, you can see Russia through the lens of not only residents of our homeland, but also participants from foreign countries, including Belarus, Belgium, Abkhazia, Armenia, Congo, and even Burkina Faso.
At the same time, the RGS project is not only a contest but also an opportunity for everyone to get to know the art of photography better. The free educational program of «The Most Beautiful Country», which took place in Russian cities for the second time, brought together over 110 in-person participants of master classes from photo experts and more than 126,000 viewers of online broadcasts. One of the topics of discussion was the choice of techniques for creating truly impressive shots. Thanks to the RGS project, we are becoming more and more convinced that the camera of a modern phone is a full-fledged photographic equipment that allows the authors of photographs to work wonders. And the contestants know how to do this: the category «Taken on a Smartphone» remains the leader in the number of applications sent — more than 24,000 photos in 2026. Other popular categories include «Landscape» (over 10,000 photos) and «Birds» (over 3,700). The «Wonders of Russia» category also won the love of the project’s audience — about 2,600 people submitted their works showing the riches of the great country, its unique objects, and places of power to the 12th contest.
Now it’s time to identify the best shots. The evaluation of the submitted photos will last until April 19. Then the expert committee of the contest will begin to determine the finalists. Next, Internet users will be able to express their opinion by voting for the winner of the People’s Choice Award on the project page. And in the summer, the expert jury will select the authors of the best works, which will be awarded at a ceremony. The winners in the categories of the main contest «The Most Beautiful Country» will receive an award in the amount of 250,000 rubles, «The Most Beautiful Country through the Eyes of Children», 100,000 rubles. The partners of the project of the RGS will also present their special prizes: «Reserved Russia» from VTB Bank, «Captured on a Camera Trap» from the «Amur Tiger» center and «PhosAgro» company, as well as «Natural Art Object» from the Art, Science and Sport Charity Foundation.
Photo: Yuri Smityuk, participant of the contest of the RGS "The Most Beautiful Country"
The most active participants of the project over the years, who will become finalists of the 12th photo contest, will receive a special gift from the Russian Geographical Society, a photo tour of Sailyugemsky National Park, where you can see snow leopards and Altai mountain sheep argali, admire the protected nature, and take truly impressive shots for new victories.
The evaluation of the images submitted for the contest runs from March 1 to April 19, 2026.
Details about the photo contests «The Most Beautiful Country» and «The Most Beautiful Country through the Eyes of Children» can be found on the websites photo.rgo.ru and photo-children.rgo.ru .