Join us for a very special event - a display of photographs and a talk - celebrating the generous donation of Harry Koundakjian’s personal photography archive to the Armenian Institute.

The event is blended in person/on Zoom, with very LIMITED SPACES to attend in person. If you are interested in attending in person please email our programme manager at nik@armenianinstitute.org.uk

Born in Aleppo in 1930 to a family originally from Gaziantep/Aintab, Koundakjian was a photographer with Associated Press from the 1960s to his retirement in 2006, first as a freelancer and then as a full-time staffer. Over his career he covered a startling range of events, from the 1972 Munich Olympics to the Lebanese Civil War, the coronation of the Shah of Iran, the 1978 wedding of King Hussein of Jordan, and much more besides. His photos intimately capture historic moments in the lives of a wide range of late twentieth century figures, including Yasser Arafat, Leila Khaled, Henry Kissinger, Richard Nixon, Hafez al-Assad, Barbara Walters, Louis Armstrong, Peter O’Toole and many, many others. Harry Koundakjian was even the sole Armenian photographer present at the raising of the flag of an independent Armenia at the United Nations in 1991.

At this event we’ll be joined in person by Harry’s daughter Lola, and remotely by his son Vicken, to discuss the man and his astonishing career through a presentation of some of the images that will be donated to AI. The event is blended in person/on Zoom, with very limited spaces to attend in person. If you are interested in attending in person please email our programme manager at nik@armenianinstitute.org.uk

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