Celebrating the life of photographer Yannis Behrakis – friend calls for photos of him at work

Yannis Behrakis Friday Feb. 4, 2011, Greek photojournalist Yannis Behrakis, while on assignment, looks at anti-government demonstrators in Tahrir square, in Cairo, Egypt. Image supplied AP Photo/Lefteris Pitarakis. “Yannis was the best photojournalist of his generation … the sole reason I became (one),” said Istanbul-based AP photographer Lefteris Pitarakis, who noted that Behrakis “cared deeply about the people he had the privilege to photograph in their most extreme situations.”
“I was lucky to have him as my teacher and mentor,” Pitarakis said.

Sadly photojournalist Yannis Behrakis died at the age of 58 on March 2, he had been ill with Cancer. A prize winning photographer Yannis has been shooting news stories for Reuters since 1987.
His friend Lefteris Pitarakis, AP Chief Photographer in Turkey and PAN reader, is preparing an event to celebrate his life requesting any images of Yannis at work ….

Dear colleagues and friends,

Many mourn Yannis loss, as for many of us that we knew him was more than a colleague, and we all cherished his existence and enjoyed his friendship. We will always remember him.

I’m reaching out to you that you knew him because I’m trying to gather photos of him at work, so I can use them in an event we try to organize to celebrate his life.

Please check your files/archives and send them to me [email protected]. Basic caption (where, when) in file info please.

Could you please also spread the world and repost this to other colleagues ? I would greatly appreciate it. Thank you very much, stay strong.

lp

• Read AP’s report on Yannis Behrakis

• A memorial service will be held at the Stavros Niarchos Foundation Cultural Center in Athens on March 24, 2019 at 12.00. Please RSVP to [email protected] by March 17.

and this in today 14 March from Reuters :

A jet of water from a police water cannon is released on demonstrators during an anti government rally, as Chile’s President Sebastian Pinera delivers a speech inside the National Congress in Valparaiso, Chile June 1, 2018. REUTERS/Rodrigo Garrido TPX IMAGES OF THE DAY TPX IMAGES OF THE DAY

Reuters has relaunched their photographers’ grant program in memory of colleague Yannis  Behrakis

The Reuters photography grant program, launched in 2017, will be expanded and renamed for long-time Reuters photojournalist and Pulitzer Prize winner Yannis Behrakis, who passed away last week. 

The program, which Yannis led, seeks to recruit and develop a diverse new generation of young photojournalists, something he was incredibly passionate about. It will relaunch for the 2020 grants under Yannis’s name with increased grants of $8k available to recipients. 

“Yannis was an extraordinary photojournalist, who in his 30 years with Reuters covered many conflicts and crises, all with passion and humanity,” said Reuters Editor-in-Chief Steve Adler. “His name will live on through his work – and through the talented photographers inspired by his legacy.” 

The program offers grants to help fund assignments and projects that will advance the recipients’ experience and skills. The 2020 applications will be available in the Fall of 2019. Candidates do not need to be professional photojournalists, but must demonstrate the ability to successfully create and complete their grant project.