While the search for the identification and rescue of missing persons in the marine area of ​​the shipwreck off Pylos is ongoing, images of respective tragic protagonists, as “captured” by the camera lens of the leading photojournalist Yannis Behrakishave taken their place at the MOMus-Museum of Photography of Thessaloniki, in the exhibition entitled “Eyewitness/Yiannis Behrakis”, which opens in a few hours.

“My duty is to make sure no one can say they didn’t know”, he said himself during the period when he tirelessly and passionately covered war conflicts and crises. In the last three decades he has documented events in countries such as Chechnya, Afghanistan, Kosovo, Somalia, Iraq, Sierra Leone, Libya, Greece, Bosnia-Herzegovina and Iran, where he himself was an eyewitness .

“The exhibition is very timely, as there are both photos from the refugee crisis, from war zones, but also from the areas from which we have a large influx of refugees. There are photos from Libya, Iraq, Afghanistan and if you connect it mentally in relation to the seasons, dates and events, I think it really creates a context, in which one can reflect in relation to today’s events.” , MOMus-Museum of Photography Thessaloniki curator Iraklis Papaioannou, who is curating the exhibition together with MOMus-Museum of Photography Thessaloniki director Iro Katsaridou and Associated Press photojournalist Lefteris Pitarakis, the man who has stated that Yiannis Behrakis is the only reason he is doing this job.

Behrakis’ images are captivating both because of the sensitive subjects they depict and because of their artistic perfection. Of course, he himself did not accept the term “artist”, because he considered it slightly …immoral to make art in the face of these facts. He proceeded with austerity of composition, expressive immediacy, choice of moment and respect for the integrity of the event. “What he was interested in and what he prioritized was capturing the event in the most objective and at the same time direct way for the viewer, without violating journalistic ethics. From there we all agree and it is proven by the fact that he has been awarded so many times by his colleagues with such high distinctions, that many of his images go beyond the limits of news, they captivate you, they last through time and have all the characteristics that will I was thinking that it could also be used in a work of art”, emphasizes Mr. Papaioannou.

Three decades of photojournalism from the analog to the digital era

Through approximately 250 photos and video projections, the visitor to the exhibition will create a complete picture of the professional path of Yiannis Behrakis from 1987 to 2019, when he passed away at the age of just 58.

The “backbone” of the exhibition are the approximately 70 photographs that were presented for the first time a few months after his death at the Stavros Niarchos Foundation Cultural Center as part of Athens Photo World 2019. “We adopted this piece exactly as it was there, to honor the colleagues us who did this work. The selection of the images was made by Lefteris Pitarakis – who will be here today, while Yiannis himself participated in the last period before he passed away”, says Mr. Papaioannou.

The exhibition is flanked by two showcases, where very special information from the first years of his career are housed. The map with all the points he found and covered war conflicts, technical means of the time he started working, interviews and his texts, all from his archive, with the kind permission of his family.

“In one display case there is a series of small photographs, prints in A4 size, with their captions typed below by the photographer himself, which correspond to the last part of the period when photojournalists – due to the absence of digital media – were still sending their photos with the photo transmitter. We have such a device for the world to see what this technology was like,” explains the curator. In the same display case there are still photos from the period 1987-1991, when this technology was still in effect, so that the visitor can see what were the first subjects that Yiannis Behrakis dealt with. “There is a photo from Eurobasket ’87 which was his first collaboration with the Reuters agency, his first mission to Yugoslavia, photos related to the terrorism in Athens in ’88 and ’89, as well as from the Koskotas period”, completes.

In the second display case there is material from Greek and foreign magazines – and covers of magazines that hosted photos by Yiannis Behrakis, among them Spiegel and Time. After all, his international recognition is a given and is proven by the many awards he won in Greece and abroad and the highest honors at the world level with which he was honored for his work. “In the exhibition there is still in one room a projection of about 130 photos from his entire career, as well as two videos in which he speaks. One is from his presentation at TEDxAthens in 2013, where he mentioned the case of Sierra Leone where he almost lost his life, and the second is a half-hour episode from the ERT documentary series “Optiki Gonia”, in which he talks and Lefteris Pitarakis for photojournalism and the difficulties of this work”, Mr. Papaioannou points out.

The exhibition “Eyewitness/Yiannis Behrakis” opens today at 19:30 at MOMus-Museum of Photography of Thessaloniki (Warehouse A’, Pier A’, port of Thessaloniki), where it will remain until October 8, 2023.