Yannis Behrakis International Photojournalism Award

Athens Photo World, after the expressed wish of Yannis Behrakis and with the donation of Stavros Niarchos Foundation, is organising for the fourth consecutive year the annual “Yannis Behrakis” International Photojournalism Award.

Over three decades Pulitzer Prize-winning photographer Yannis Behrakis , (1960-2019) bore witness to some of history’s most iconic moments and documented the mass movement of people in three continents, driven by his desire to show the world what was happening in war zones and countries in crisis.

The Award in his memory contributes to the promotion, encouragement and upgrading of the work of photographers and photojournalists, so that they can continue to produce their dedicated work and vision. The 15,000€ cash prize will be awarded to a full-length photojournalism or documentary work created after January 2018. The awarded project will be exhibited at the next Athens Photo World at an individual exhibition of the photographer.

A new jury is appointed every year under the permanent chairmanship of Elisavet Saridou Behrakis. For 2022 the committee consist of Corinne Dufka, Yunghi Kim and Dusan Vranic.

Those interested are requested to submit a portfolio of up to twenty-four (24) photographs, an explanatory text and a brief bio note. The winner of the “Yannis Behrakis” International Photojournalism Award for 2022 will be announced by Elisavet Saridou Behrakis, at the closing event of APW 2022 on May 27, 2022 at the Stavros Niarchos Foundation Cultural Center.

More information on Terms and Conditions and the Frequently Asked Questions, below. Participation in the “Yannis Behrakis” International Photojournalism Award contest is free.

Corinne Dufka / photojournalist

Corinne Dufka is the West Africa Director at Human Rights Watch with expertise in Burkina Faso, Côte d’Ivoire, Guinea, Liberia, Mali, Niger and Sierra Leone. From 1999-2003, she was based in Freetown, Sierra Leone, both as a researcher for Human Rights Watch and, in 2002 during a year’s sabbatical, as a criminal investigator for the U.N.-backed Special Court for Sierra Leone. She ran HRW’s field office in Dakar, Senegal from 2005-2011. Prior to joining Human Rights Watch, Dufka worked as a photojournalist for the Reuters News Agency and from 1987-1999 covered conflicts in Central America, Bosnia and Africa. She has been honoured with the Capa Gold Medal Award, a World Press Photo Award for spot news, the International Women’s Media Foundation’s Courage in Journalism Award, and was a Pulitzer Prize finalist. Before becoming a photojournalist, Dufka worked as a psychiatric social worker in San Francisco. She holds a Master’s in Social Work degree from the University of California at Berkeley.

Yunghi Kim / Photojournalist

Yunghi Kim is a photojournalist who has covered conflicts and in-depth, issue-driven stories all over the world for 38 years. She has been a member of Contact Press Images since 1995. Her professional accolades include World Press Photo Awards, Magazine Photographer of the Year by POYi 1997 (one of two women to receive it at the time), The Olivier Rebbot and The John Faber Awards from the Overseas Press Club, Visa D’Or for News, The White House Press Photographers, 2000 Recipient of Distinguished Alumni Award from Boston University, School of Communication. She was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize for her harrowing coverage of Somalia in 1992. She has also worked on extensive magazine commissioned assignments. Yunghi gives back to photojournalism every year in The Yunghi Grant since 2015. In 2019, Kim launched educational site TrailblazersOfLight.Com, a site dedicated to the pioneering largely US women of photojournalism from the film era (1889 thru 1990s) – a time when few women had work that was digitized and memorialized on the web. In 2019, CNN produced a web essay honoring the Pioneering Women of Photojournalism by delving into research accumulated and aggregated on the Trailblazers site. In 2021, she debuted a short documentary film “Unflinching Grace” which looks back on decades of reporting by three women photojournalists.

Dusan Vranic / photojournalist

Dusan Vranic joined the Associated Press in his native Belgrade, then Yugoslavia, in 1987. He has covered the downfall of communism in Eastern Europe, the breakup of the Soviet Union, the withdrawal of Soviets from Afghanistan, the first Gulf war and the wars in former Yugoslavia. He covered the invasions of Iraq and Afghanistan and the subsequent wars, major sporting events including summer and winter Olympic Games, World and European football championships and almost everything else that falls in between wars and sports. Aside from Belgrade, he has been based out of Amsterdam, Athens, Baghdad, Kabul and Jerusalem and was in charge of AP photos in south Europe, Iraq and Afghanistan, Israel and Palestinian territories. Currently is AP’s Middle East deputy regional director for photography.

FAQ

1. Who can participate?

The competition is open to any professional photographer / photojournalist, regardless of nationality and place of residence and work.

2. Which are supposed to be the topics of the project?

Any documentary / photojournalism project

3. How many photos should there be sent?

The desired number of photos is a minimum of 12 and a maximum of 24 so that they create a complete photographic body of work.

4. What are the technical specifications of the photographs?

The photos are submitted in jpeg format, at 72dpi and 3000 pixels on their large side. In case of qualifying for the finalists, the jury reserves the right to request the RAW (original) files.

5. Which is the time frame of the submitted photographic project?

The submitted photos must have been shot within the previous four years (from January 2018 onwards). However, a maximum of 6 photographs of the project that have been shot at a previous point in time may be included in the entry.

6. Can the winners of the previous competitions participate in the competition again?

Yes

7. What is the submissions' deadline?

The deadline for submissions is set for Sunday, April 10, 2022, at 23:59 Athens time, 20:59 GMT, 16.59 ET

8. When will the results of the contest be announced?

Sunday, May 29th, 2022

Cover Image © Gabriele Galimbereti, Honorable Mention #YBIPA 2021