Stories of Migration, Culture, and Humanity

Antonis Pasvantis is a photographer and profesor of photography, who is based in Kavala, Nothern Greece. His work is focusing on vulnerable groups of people, small communities of the minorities in Balkans and issues such as poverty, borders crossing and coexistence of different religious groups in Thrace.

Christina Kalligianni is a photographer based in Athens, Greece. She has been a travel photographer and editor for large Greek newspapers, a review editor for photographic magazines in Greece and 2011 and 2016 she ran her own studio, concentrating in portraiture, whilst also offering a commercial and industrial portfolio. Since 2016 she has been involved with the production coordination of photography festivals in Greece, starting with MEdpHOTO festival (international documentary photography festival) and moving to Athens Photo World in 2018 until today

Dimitris Tosidis, a Greek photojournalist born in Thessaloniki in 1986, focuses on social, cultural, environmental, and sport-related stories. His award-winning project Diava, documenting the last nomadic shepherds of northern Greece, earned the Athens Photo World Award in 2021. He also won the Migration Media Award in 2017 and 2018. Collaborating with major agencies, media, and NGOs, Tosidis balances professional work with teaching photojournalism. Living in Metsovo, he continues to document traditions like Diava, preserving cultural identity and highlighting sustainable practices.

Maro Kouri is a Greek documentary photojournalist specializing in social issues, refugee crises, and human rights. Trained under Konstantinos Manos (Magnum) and Ed Kashi (National Geographic), her work has appeared in National Geographic, BBC, Der Spiegel, Newsweek, CNN, and Huffington Post. She has photographed Nelson Mandela, Umberto Eco, Philip Glass, David Bowie, and Cesária Évora. Accredited in Nonviolent Communication and as a 4D Dream Coach, she facilitates workshops, therapeutic projects, and photojournalism assignments worldwide. Awards include UNESCO Honor, PX3 Gold Medal, SCOOP 1st International Photojournalism, and ND Awards Honorable Mention.

Dr Ioannis Galanopoulos-Papavasileiou (aka Yiannis Galanopoulos) is an Associate Professor of Art at Zayed University, UAE and a contemporary interdisciplinary visual artist. His photographic work has been shown in numerous solo and group exhibitions in galleries and institutions in UAE, Europe, the US, Australia, China and Japan. Most notably at Athens Photo Festival, the Kiyosato Museum of Photographic Arts in Japan, the Venice Biennale, the Florence Biennale, the Pingyao International Photography Festival in China, the Czong Institute for Contemporary Art in Korea, and the Eyes on Main Street Festival in the USA. His work has been acquired by private and public collections. His expanded photography work examines the relationship between ideated, geographic and virtual place, as well as the connections between objects, artists, media, viewers and society. Ioannis writes on photography and film and is a regular contributor to scholarly research journals and publications such as Taylor and Francis; The Journal of Visual Practice Research, CGRNet's On the Image and the Canadian Review of Comparative Literature.

Dr. Yannis Kontos is an award-winning documentary photographer and Assistant Professor at UAE University with over 25 years of experience. He has documented wars and conflicts in more than 50 countries, earning prestigious awards like World Press Photo. His work has been featured in Time, The New York Times, and Le Monde. Holding a PhD in Documentary Photography, Yannis combines his academic and professional expertise to teach visual communication. He aims to give a voice to the marginalized and inspire positive change through his powerful images.