Yannis Behrakis (Greek: Γιάννης Μπεχράκης; 29 August 1960 – 2 March 2019)[1] was a Greek photojournalist and a Senior editor with Reuters.

Yannis Behrakis
BornAugust 29, 1960
DiedMarch 2, 2019 (aged 58)
Athens, Greece
NationalityGreek
OccupationPhotojournalist
Known for2016 Pulitzer Prize for Breaking News Photography

Biography

edit

Yannis Behrakis was born in 1960 in Athens, Greece. He studied photography in the Athens School of Arts and Technology and received his BA (Honours) from Middlesex University. He worked as a studio photographer in Athens in 1985–86. In 1987 he started a working relation as a contractor for Reuters and in late 1988 he was offered a staff job with the agency based in Athens. His first foreign assignment was in Libya in January 1989. Since then he documented a variety of events including the funeral of Ayatollah Khomeini in Iran, the changes in Eastern Europe and the Balkans, the wars in Croatia, Bosnia and Kosovo, Chechnya, Sierra Leone, Somalia, Afghanistan, Lebanon, the first and second Gulf wars in Iraq, the Arab Spring in Egypt, Libya and Tunisia, the war in Donbas, the NATO bombing of ISIS in Kobane, Syria, the Greek financial crisis and the refugee crisis in 2015.

He also covered the Israeli–Palestinian conflict for many years, earthquakes in Kashmir, Turkey, Greece and Iran and major news events around the world. He also covered four Summer Olympics, the 1994 World Cup in the US and many international sports events. He moved with Reuters to Jerusalem as the chief photographer for Israel and the Palestinian Territories in 2008/9. In 2010 he moved back in Greece to cover the financial crisis.

He took part in group and solo exhibitions in Athens, Thessaloniki, London, Edinburgh, New York, Rome, Barcelona, Madrid, Portugal, France and Dubai.

In 2000, Behrakis survived an ambush in Sierra Leone where the American reporter Kurt Schork and Spanish cameraman Miguel Gil Moreno de Mora of Associated Press Television were killed.[2] He and South African cameraman Mark Chisholm managed to get away from the attackers.[3] In 2016, he led a Thomson Reuters team to win the 2016 Pulitzer Prize for Breaking News Photography.[4]

Behrakis died after a long battle with cancer in Athens on 2 March 2019, aged 58.[5] Behrakis is survived by his daughter Rebecca, son Dimitri and his wife Elisavet.[citation needed]

Awards

edit

References

edit
  1. ^ "In Memoriam 2019". photographydatabase.org.
  2. ^ "Two journalists killed by RUF gunmen; two others wounded". CPJ. IFEX. 2000-05-25. Retrieved 2009-05-20.
  3. ^ Ricchiardi, Sherry (2002). "Preparing for Battle". American Journalism Review (July/August 2002). ajr.org. Archived from the original on 2010-01-27. Retrieved 2009-05-20.
  4. ^ a b "Pulitzer prize 2016 for Breaking news Photography". Pulitzer Prize. The Pulitzer Prize.
  5. ^ "Yannis Behrakis, award-winning Reuters photographer, dies aged 58". Reuters. 2019-03-03. Retrieved 2019-03-03.
  6. ^ a b "Schwarz Foundation - Yannis Behrakis2". www.schwarzfoundation.com.
  7. ^ a b c "Reuters photographer..." Kathimerini. ekathimerini.com. 2004-04-27. Archived from the original on 2015-11-25. Retrieved 2009-05-20.
  8. ^ "1999, Yannis Behrakis, 1st prize, General News stories". archive.worldpressphoto.org. Retrieved 6 June 2010.
  9. ^ "Prize-winners of the Bayeux-Calvados award since 1994". Bayeux-Calvados War Correspondents Prize. prixbayeux.org. Retrieved 2009-05-20.
  10. ^ "The 10th list of winners". www.chipp.cn. Archived from the original on 2018-09-25.
  11. ^ "The 11th list of winners". www.chipp.cn. Archived from the original on 2019-03-06.
  12. ^ "The 12th list of winners". www.chipp.cn. Archived from the original on 2019-03-06. Retrieved 2019-03-03.
  13. ^ "Second Place | General News". www.poy.org.
  14. ^ "Award of Excellence | Exodus". www.poy.org.
  15. ^ Behrakis/Reuters, Yannis; Behrakis/Reuters, Yannis. "Guardian photographer of the year 2015: Yannis Behrakis" – via www.theguardian.com. {{cite web}}: |last1= has generic name (help)
  16. ^ "DAYS JAPAN INTERNATIONAL PHOTOJOURNALISM AWARDS". daysjapan.net.
edit