Yannis Kontos


Yannis Kontos is a Greek documentary photographer, professor of photography and commercial photographer. He has covered major events for over a decade in more than 50 countries. His work has been published in newspapers, magazines, and books.

Life and work

Yannis Kontos was born in Ioannina, Greece in 1971.
From 1988 to 1994, Kontos studied at the Faculty of Physical Education and Sport Science of the University of Thessaloniki. In 1996, he continued studying photography and in 2001, he graduated from the Department of Photography of the School of Graphic Arts and Art Studies at the Technological Educational Institute of Athens. In 2001, after an international competition, he attended the World Press Photo Joop Swart Masterclass in Rotterdam, Netherlands. He made postgraduate studies obtaining a Master of Arts in photographic journalism from the University of Westminster in London, and a PhD degree in Documentary Photography from the University of Wales in Newport, on a Greek state scholarship.
From 1998 to 2000, Kontos worked as a photojournalist for the French agency Sygma. He continued working with the Gamma agency from 2001 to 2002. In 2002, he began working with Polaris Images, producing photojournalism and feature work.

Publications