Maro Kouri
Maro Kouri, also known as Janani, is a Greek photojournalist and mentor whose career spans over three decades and more than seventy countries. Her photography explores human resilience, vulnerability and compassion, drawing international attention through publications, speeches and exhibitions. She is the founder of the “Photographing Our Dreams” workshops, which guide emerging photographers toward self-awareness and creative authenticity. With trust and empathy, she documents stories that unite cultures, address trauma, and celebrate dignity while preserving collective memory through visual storytelling.
Trained under distinguished photographers Konstantinos Manos of Magnum and Ed Kashi of National Geographic, Maro has developed an international career with work published in National Geographic, BBC, La Repubblica, Der Spiegel, Newsweek, CNN and Huffington Post. Her portraits include leaders and artists such as Nelson Mandela, Umberto Eco, David Bowie and Cesária Évora.
Her assignments have taken her to diverse places and events: capturing the first light of the new millennium at Hikurangi, aerial views of Athens during the 2004 Olympics, Greece’s economic crisis, the Tunisian Revolution, environmental struggles in India and Bangladesh, and the refugee crisis across Europe.
Her awards include a UNESCO Honour in 2003, first prize at SCOOP in 2009, honours from the Photo Press Union of Greece and the Photographic Society of Oman, a PX3 Gold Medal for “Greek Crisis: Sparagmos” in 2014, and the award for Photography, Justice and Service in 2024. Her exhibitions include “Velocity” in New York, “Faces of the World” in Johannesburg, “Women of the World” in Paris and Athens, “Odyssey of Refugees” in Barcelona and Athens, and a projection of “Sparagmos” at Visa Pour l’Image in Perpignan.
Maro is also a certified 4D Dream Coach and trained in Nonviolent Communication, currently finalising her therapy studies at the Humaniversity in the Netherlands. These qualifications complement her workshops and documentary projects, which combine photography with personal exploration and healing.
She has facilitated workshops among the Kalash in Pakistan, with tribes in South Ethiopia and Tanzania, with Sufis in Cappadocia and in the Siwa desert, with the Paris School of Journalism, and in programmes in Naples and Oman. She has also volunteered to teach photography to women in Syrian refugee camps in Lebanon, inmates in Eleonas Women’s Prison in Greece, children in Soweto during the 1994 democratic transition, and refugees supported by Odyssea.
Her books include The Ethiopian, created with her students to support social initiatives, Tribes of Greece, and the photographic record of the 1997 Athens Pan-European Athletics Championship. She has also collaborated on documentaries with the Cosmote History Channel and delivered art therapy projects with refugee children in Lesbos. Her TEDx talk, “The Gift of Life Through the Photographic Lens”, reflects her belief in the transformative power of photography.
Maro Kouri, also known as Janani, is a Greek photojournalist with more than thirty years of international experience. Her assignments have included Greece’s economic crisis, the Tunisian Revolution and the refugee crisis across Europe. A certified 4D Dream Coach and workshop mentor, she empowers photographers worldwide to combine self-awareness with storytelling. Her books, exhibitions and humanitarian projects highlight resilience, dignity and healing, earning awards from UNESCO, PX3 and others. Based in Athens, she continues to share her vision globally.
Books
• The Ethiopian
• Tribes of Greece
• 1997 Athens Pan-European Athletics Championship
Films and Talks
• Documentaries in collaboration with Cosmote History Channel
• Art therapy projects with refugee children in Lesbos
• TEDx talk: “The Gift of Life Through the Photographic Lens”
Exhibitions
• Visual Marathon, Barcelona
• Cultural Capital of Europe, Thessaloniki
• Velocity, Mobile Art Museum, New York
• Faces of the World, Johannesburg
• AIDS in South Africa, Athens
• Women of the World, Paris and Athens
• Sparagmos Greek Crisis, Visa Pour l’Image, Perpignan
• Evros, Gate to Europe, Photometria Festival
• Odyssey of Refugees, Barcelona and Athens
• Survival Routes, EU and Hellenic Parliament