COVID-19

In the past few months, humanity is being tested by an unprecedented situation due to the spread of COVID-19 around the globe. Our thoughts are with the medical and nursing staff in our country and all over the world as well as with all those out there offering their services to the rest of us who need to stay at home.

At the same time, our thoughts are with  our fellow photojournalists and media professionals covering this new reality to keep citizens constantly updated.

 With  the public health as our priority, the team of Athens Photo World (APW),with the support of our Lead Donor, the Stavros Niarchos Foundation (SNF), is cancelling this year's Festival, which was scheduled for 22-31 May, 2020.

We are confident and optimistic that we will all emerge stronger from this unprecedented crisis, with reinforced human relationships and values that unite us, and that we will meet again in May 2021, for the APW exhibitions at the Stavros Niarchos Foundation Cultural Center (SNFCC), outdoorexhibitions in downtown Athens, talks and screenings in bustling parts of our city, and much more.

Our two big 2020 contests are still running.

The contest for the 2020 "Yannis Behrakis" International Photojournalism Award

https://www.apw.gr/en/yannis-behrakis-international-photojournalism-award/

and the contest for the 2020 Athens Photo World Award https://www.apw.gr/en/athens-photo-world-award-2020/

Entry submissions for both contests are extended until Sunday, July 19 2020. The winners will be announced at the end of August.

The contests are already running digitally.  The submission and evaluation processes as well as the announcement of the results are also conducted digitally and safely.

APW remains committed to promoting and supporting photojournalists worldwide, particularly now. 

Our Sunday appointment on APW's social media with the presentation of the work of Greek and foreign photographers will continue. 

The great feedback we receive from you is encouraging us to further build our online activities.

APW would like to thank its Donor, the sponsors, supporters, guests and all partners for their support in these difficult international conditions.

From the bottom of our hearts, we extend our best wishes for a speedy recovery to those afflicted, and urge those who are healthy to stay calm and cautious. #stayathome.

The photojournalists will be out there, taking all the necessary protective measures, to keep us updated.

About

Athens Photo World (APW), upon the expressed wish of Yannis Behrakis and with the lead support of the Stavros Niarchos Foundation (SNF), aims at supporting and highlighting the work and vision of Greek and international photojournalists.

For the second consecutive year, the 15,000€ “Yannis Behrakis” International Photojournalism Award will be awarded to a full-length photojournalism or documentary work. The winning project will be presented at next year’s APW festival with an individual exhibition of the photographer. A new selection committee is appointed every year, under the permanent chairmanship of Elisavet Saridou Behrakis. For 2020, the members of the committee are Alice Gabriner, Enric Marti and Ahmad Masood Interested parties are requested to submit a portfolio of twenty four (24) photographs, along with an explanatory text and a brief resume.

The winner of the 2020 “Yannis Behrakis” Award will be announced by Elizabeth Saridou Behrakis and Dar Yasin, winner of the 2019 Award, at at a specially planned event 2020 on September 26th, at the Stavros Niarchos Foundation Cultural Center (SNFCC).

Participation in the “Yannis Behrakis” Award contest is free.

Elisavet Saridou Behrakis, Jury Chair “This award was created to honour the man who wanted to change the world, through his work, his morals, the strength of his soul. I am looking forward to seeing this year’s winner who will stand for all this and will share his story with us”

Ahmad Masood
After finishing high school, Ahmad Masood started working as an Interpreter/fixer in Nov 2001 for a group of Reuters journalist that included Yannis Behrakis, in Afghanistan. This was after the 9/11 attacks and the initial phase of United States government efforts to topple the Taliban region. Soon after, Reuters gave him training on how to report and later how to take pictures. He enjoyed photography, therefore, he focused his full time on taking news pictures for Reuters since then. In 2005 he became staff photographer based in Afghanistan. He moved to India as Chief Photographer in 2012. In 2016 he moved to Singapore as Editor for Reuters Pictures, Asia. He lives in Singapore with his wife and two daughters.

Enric Martí
Enric Martí began his career as photo assistant with Agence France-Presse in Managua, Nicaragua in 1989, and then worked as local stringer for Reuters. In 1992 he moved to Sarajevo as a freelancer, later joining EPA. In 1994 he began working for The Associated Press in the Balkans, moving on to Cairo to become the AP’s senior photographer for the Middle East for six years. From 2002 until 2006 he served as chief photo editor/photographer in Jerusalem and after that he oversaw regional photo coverage in Latin America and the Caribbean based in Mexico City. He is now Photo editor for Global enterprise photo projects based in NYC. Martí’s awards include a World Press Photo award, three Fotopress awards, an Ortega y Gasset prize in his native Spain and the 2001 Bayeaux award for war photography. He previously sat on the 2008 and 2010 World Press Photo jury

Alice Gabriner
Alice Gabriner is a visual editor with 30 years of experience primarily covering national and international news at The New Yorker, The New York Times, TIME, National Geographic, and U.S. News & World Report. She photo edited TIME’s year-long multimedia project ‘Finding Home’, which received the top prize in the 2018 World Press Photo contest for Innovative Storytelling, and a 2018 Emmy Award nomination in the Outstanding New Approaches Documentary category. During a ten-year tenure at TIME, she led photo department through the election and inauguration of Barack Obama and oversaw the magazine¹s award-winning coverage of the Iraq War. For the first two years of the Obama administration, she served as Deputy Director of Photography. Gabriner has curated photography exhibits and has been a member of photo juries and portfolio reviews around the world.