Yanni and Ilford
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Yanni and Ilford | |
It seems like yesterday that Yannis showed up in the Reuter office in Brussels in 1987, wearing a sportscoat, looking a bit hesitant, but friendly. We met and went back to my house for lunch and we've been great friends ever since. Since then, Yanni has established himself as one of the great wire service photographers in all kinds of situation. One of the first to cover the conflict in Bosnia; too familiar with the brutal war in Grozny; the events in Somalia, Israel and Palestine, not to mention Iran, Kurdistan and I'm leaving out so much. Did I mention he's also great at sports photography?. A quick look at the photos accompanying these pages will tell you more than I can write about.Yanni has a rare and special gift when it comes to photography and we're all the better for it. One thing the photos won't tell you about are Yanni's other great talents. The renowned sense of Greek hospitality is complemented by a keen mind, full of his country's great history, a great raconteur, and a sense of adventure that must be experienced to be believed.APH
Yannis lives where he was born, in Athens, Greece. He started doing commercial photography for record companies in 1986.In 1987 started as a stringer with Reuters and was promoted to Chief Photographer a couple of years later. When not on assignment, he frequently lectures and teaches his craft to others. He can be reached at 100127.2116@compuserve.com.
For cat lovers, Ilford pictured above with the other guy, is a true master of survival. He had a broken leg when Yanni found him on the road while riding his motorcycle one day. In 1997 Ilford disappeared for a several days and was found when it was discovered he had fallen off their fifth floor balcony onto a concrete pad and had broken many many bones. Ilford had lain like this for several days but the vets fixed him and doesn't he look great? Greece is great cat country.
