Russian student wins D&AD photo competition

British educational charity D&AD has named a Russian-born student as the winner of its annual photography competition, which this year looked for the best portraits of contemporary youth. According to Dazed & Confused magazine, a partner in the competition, winner Anastasia Korosteleva’s portrait of Lev, a young boy from a Moscow orphanage, was picked for the sense of loneliness and no-frills living it portrays. “The day the photo was taken he had a scrap with someone from another class,” writes Korosteleva on her website. “His red knuckles were evidence of what had happened.”

A second of Korosteleva’s photos, Transition, was also nominated to the longlist. The portrait of a tattoo-covered teenager sitting in front of a Soviet-era rug captures the tension between modernity and tradition in Russia. A second Russian student, Anastasia Chelishcheva, also made it as a finalist for her portrait of three baby-faced policemen in Russia. Both Korosteleva and Chelishcheva studied at the British Higher School of Art & Design.

D&AD, a London-based organisation committed to supporting creative professionals, launched the competition with Dazed four months ago. The brief stipulated “an image that can be turned to in ten years’ time as a reference to 2013, an image that oozes determination and attitude”. An exhibition of winning photos, Portraits of Contemporary Youth, is currently on show at London’s The Neu Gallery.