#behrakis

The Greek photographer and Pulitzer Prize winner from 2016, Yiannis Behrakis, left us on this day one year ago.

Yiannis was a generous and courageous human, a man of both action and intellect, and he is dearly missed by many of us.

Before his all too early death, his words and thoughts were saved in this and other interviews - all more important in the world of today than ever before.

Yiannis was following the subjects of his photography and journalism with respect and solidarity always. From his fellow Greeks hit by and suffering under the austerity regime to humans in the middle of tragic and horrible wars all around the world and to the refugees and people of the Greek island communities during 2015.

Take the time to read and to listen to the words of Yiannis Behrakis today. And imagine how he would have been at our side today with his camera and his voice.

Yannis Behrakis, one of Reuters' most decorated and best-loved photographers, has died after a long battle with cancer. He was 58.

After joining the news wire 30 years ago, Behrakis covered many of the most tumultuous events around the world, including conflicts in Afghanistan and Chechnya,a huge earthquake in Kashmir and the Egyptian uprising of 2011.

In the process, he won the respect of both peers and rivals for his skill and bravery. He also led a team to a Pulitzer Prize in 2016 for coverage of the refugee crisis.

Colleagues who worked with him in the field said Reuters had lost a talented and committed journalist.

"It is about clearly telling the story in the most artistic way possible," veteran Reuters photographer Goran Tomasevic said of Behrakis’ style.

“I feel a very strong need to speak for those people who have been treated unfairly or those who have no voice. This, I feel, is my mission,” award-winning Greek photojournalist Yannis Behrakis, who died on Saturday, told Kathimerini in an interview first published on September 11, 2017.

Doctors Without Borders (Medecins sans Frontieres) has published a video paying tribute to Yannis Behrakis, the late photojournalist whose poignant images helped raise international awareness of the plight of hundreds of thousands of refugees trying to escape war at the peak of the migrant crisis in Greece in 2015 and 2016.

The video comes a few days after the death of the Pulitzer-winning Reuters photographer, who lost the battle with cancer early this month at the age of 58.

Yannis Behrakis Exclusive Interview on Documenting the Refugee Crisis

“Yannis had a very strong sense of justice, of right and wrong, and an insatiable compulsion to point out the wrong. He didn’t have to go anywhere and he didn't need a camera for this.

He once took me to Evia in Greece to show me some land he has there. On the way back on the ferry – it was winter and we were sitting inside – there were about four guys sitting and smoking underneath a big “no smoking” sign. I saw his face slowly changing color and thought to myself “OK, here we go again…” He looked at me and asked “Are you with me brother?” I said yes, not because I was keen on a confrontation with four guys, but because Yannis didn’t like no for an answer. I braced for impact. Yannis walked over and gave the gentlemen the full brunt of his unvarnished opinion. They were shocked, and immediately put out their cigarettes. The captain of the ferry offered him a job on the spot, telling us he needed such people on his ship.

Muere el fotógrafo griego Yannis Behrakis, premio Pulitzer de 2016 y World Press Photo de 2000

El laureado fotógrafo griego Yannis Behrakis, premio Pulitzer en 2016por su forma de retratar la crisis de los refugiados, ha muerto de cáncer a los 58 años de edad, según ha comunicado este domingo su entorno familiar. Behrakis era reportero jefe de la agencia Reuters en Grecia, donde comenzó a trabajar en 1988. Durante tres décadas, recorrió múltiples escenarios de conflicto, como Afganistán…