Awards

Aris Messinis spent two weeks on board the Astral reporting on rescue operations carried out to the north of the Libyan coast by the Spanish NGO Proactiva Open Arms.

This coverage has already won 3^rd Prize at Pictures of the Year 2017 (POYi) in both the "News Picture Story " and "Spot News" categories.

Aged 40, he has worked for AFP since 2003, and is now based in Athens as head of photo for Greece. He has won numerous international prizes for his work in Libya and Egypt: Fotoweek 2011, Days Japan 2012, National Press Photographers Association (NPPA) and the Bayeux-Calvados Awards for War Correspondents for his coverage of the Battle of Sirte in Libya in 2011.  In 2016 he won the Visa d’or News award at the Visa pour l’Image photo festival for his coverage of migrants arriving on the beaches of Lesbos.