Pulitzer Prize-winning photojournalist Yannis Behrakis 1960-2019
Yannis Behrakis (1960-March 2, 2019) was a Pulitzer Prize-winning photojournalist for Reuters, whose assignments took him to conflict zones, scenes of natural disasters, and the most personal of tragedies.
Behrakis once said, "My mission is to tell you the story … to make sure that nobody can say: 'I didn't know.'"
View a gallery of some of Behrakis' most evocative photos. (Warning: Some images are graphic.)
Pictured: A young Kurdish refugee from Kobani holds a toy pistol at a Kurdish refugee camp in the border town of Suruc, Sanliurfa province, Turkey, October 27, 2014.
Yannis Behrakis
Yannis Behrakis in Normandy, France, 2016.
Born in Athens in 1960, Behrakis studied photography at a private school and worked at a photo studio. After seeing the 1983 movie "Under Fire" (about reporters in rebel-torn Nicaragua), he decided to pursue a career in photojournalism, beginning as a freelancer for Reuters.
Since the late '80s, he had been on assignments across Europe, the Mideast, Asia and Africa. In 2000, he was ambushed in Sierra Leone, likely by rebels, and barely escaped; two colleagues were killed.
Behrakis led a team of Reuters photographers to the 2016 Pulitzer Prize, covering the refugee crisis.
Iran
A man is carried at the site in Masala Square in Tehran, where the body of Ayatollah Khomeini lies in state, June 5, 1989.
Somalia
A Somali aid worker carries a dead child for burial in a Baidoa refugee camp, Somalia, December 15, 1992.
Reuters' U.S. general news editor Dina Kyriakidou Contini said of Behrakis' work, "His pictures are iconic, some works of art in their own right. But it was his empathy that made him a great photojournalist."
Albania
Two Albanians watch a U.S. Marine CH53 Super Stallion helicopter take off from Golame Beach near the port town of Durres, March 16, 1997. The Marines stormed out of helicopters onto the beach to rescue American, Turkish and Italian citizens from the chaos of Albania as many frantic Albanians attempted to jump on board.
Kosovo
An ethnic Albanian man places the body of two-year-old Mozzlum Sylmetaj into a coffin next to the coffins of three other family members killed by Yugoslav army troops as they were crossing into Kosovo from Albania, October 23, 1998. The family had fled to Albania from violence in Kosovo, but decided to return to their village after reports of a peace deal. The Yugoslav army said the family were with Kosovo Liberation Army guerrillas and were killed in an exchange of fire with border troops.
Kosovo
Ethnic Albanian villagers form a line to pay their respects to the family of two victims of an outbreak of ethnic violence, in Kosovo, January 31, 1999.
Greece
A member of the Ukrainian synchronized swimming team performs the free routine during an Olympic Games qualification tournament at the Olympic Aquatic Center of the Athens Olympic Sports Complex, April 17, 2004.
Israel
An Israeli soldier walks through a field near Kibbutz Nahal Oz, just outside the Gaza Strip, February 25, 2008.
Gaza Strip
A weapons system fired by Israeli forces explodes over the northern Gaza Strip, January 10, 2009.
Gaza Strip
A Palestinian man carries flour back home on his horse-drawn cart in the devastated village of Mughraqa following Israel's three-week-long offensive in the Gaza Strip, January 24, 2009.
Egypt
An opposition demonstrator prays in front of army soldiers near Tahrir Square in Cairo, February 5, 2011.
"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."
Greece
A protester wearing a gas mask walks beside a burning van during violent protests against austerity measures in Athens, Greece, June 28, 2011.
Thanassis Stavrakis, an Athens-based AP photographer, said of Behrakis that "we all looked up to him and were grateful for the time he took to help colleagues with edits and advice. He influenced a generation of photographers."
Greece
A man covered in his own blood escapes after a group of leftist protesters tried to lynch him while accusing him of being a fascist, during a protest in Athens' Constitution Square October 5, 2011.
Ukraine
The remains of a Ukrainian army 120mm mortar shell are seen at a front line of the pro-Russian position on the outskirts of the eastern Ukrainian town of Slaviansk May 17, 2014.
Behrakis often worked in conflict zones, including Afghanistan, Chechnya, Croatia, Iraq, Syria and Sierra Leone.
Turkey
A Kurdish refugee child cries as he and others wait inside a fenced refugee camp to pay their last respects to a Kurdish fighter killed during the battle for Kobani against Islamic State, in the border town of Suruc, Sanliurfa province November 7, 2014.
Greece
Migrants and refugees beg Macedonian policemen to allow passage to cross the border from Greece into Macedonia during a rainstorm, near the Greek village of Idomeni, September 10, 2015.
Greece
A Syrian refugee kisses his daughter as he walks through a rainstorm towards Greece's border with Macedonia, near the Greek village of Idomeni, September 10, 2015. The photo was one of Behrakis' favorites.
Yannis Behrakis died March 2, 2019 after a long fight with cancer.
By CBSNews.com senior producer David Morgan. The Associated Press and Reuters contributed to this report.