PRESS RELEASE
Catholicosate of Cilicia
Communication and Information Department
Contact: V. Rev. Fr. Krikor Chiftjian, Communications Officer
Tel: (04) 410001, 410003
Fax: (04) 419724
E- mail: [email protected]
Web:
PO Box 70 317
Antelias-Lebanon
HIS HOLINESS ARAM I CONGRATULATES AP PHOTOGRAPHER HARRY KOUNDAKJIAN
Antelias, Lebanon – On the occasion of an exhibition organized in honor of
50 years of service of AP photographer Harry Koudakjian to the photographing
industry, His Holiness Aram I, Catholicos of Cilicia, congratulated the
artist, saying, “You are an artist par excellence. Through your shots you
have been able to catch the defining moments of people and discern beyond
mere facts and scenes the real message. You have perceived your job as
photographer as a vocation and fulfilled it with faith, commitment and
vision. You deserve the high appreciation and full support of all those who
have known you as a humble man and a dedicated artist”.
Harry’s professional career in photo journalism began in Beirut in 1952,
when he joined the French-language newspaper L’Orient and its Arabic sister
paper Al Jarida as the first photo-reporter in Lebanon. At the same time he
worked for other Beirut newspapers and magazines and freelanced for Life,
Paris Match, the Illustrated London News, and the London Daily Mail.
But photography for Harry really began when he was six-years old and took
apart a kodak bellows camera and never put it back together again has it,
waiting to be reassembled. When he was eight, his mother, an accomplished
photographer in her own right, gave him a Brownie camera.
In 1962 he began working for the Associated Press (AP) as a stringer, and
went on to establish the AP photo desk in Beirut. In 1969 he became the AP’s
Chief Middle East photographer responsible for all the Arab countries in the
Middle East, North and East Africa, Turkey, and Iran. Harry has had no end
of adventure with his camera(s), seeking the news makers as they happen, no
matter what the danger or conflict.
Having grown up in Aleppo, Syria, and Beirut, Lebanon, Harry speaks English,
French, Arabic, Turkish, and his first language, Armenian. Harry the
photographer has often stepped forward in crisis situations to offer his
skills as translator and interpreter.
Being Armenian and neutral in Middle East has served him well in his
profession. His repertoire of stories covers accounts of invitations from
royalty, run-ins with governments, and even the perils of simply using a
camera in the Middle East.
In 1979 Harry and his family were transferred by the AP to New York City
where today, as an American citizen, Harry is the AP’s International Photo
Editor.
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The Armenian Catholicosate of Cilicia is one of the two Catholicosates of
the Armenian Orthodox Church. For detailed information about the history and
the mission of the Cilician Catholicosate, you may refer to the web page of
the Catholicosate, The Cilician Catholicosate, the
administrative center of the church is located in Antelias, Lebanon.