Agence France-Presse photographer Aris Messinis received the Bayeux-Calvados Award for War Correspondents for his October 2011 photo coverage of the battle of Syrte in Libya. His photos were taken while National Transitional Council forces delivered the final strike against the area’s pro-Gaddafi forces, a few days before the Libyan leader’s death. His photos reflect the violence, but also the confusion and disorder that ruled the region before and during the battle.

The 35-year-old photographer, and son of Dimitri Messinis, an internationally acclaimed photojournalist himself and currently a photo editor at the international news agency Associated Press, has been Chief Photographer for Agence France-Presse in Greece since 2006 and has been practicing photojournalism since 1997. He worked in Libya and Egypt and has won many international awards such as Days Japan 2012, Fotoweek 2011, NPPA and many more.

The Bayeux-Calvados Awards for War Correspondents was initially established in 1994 by the authorities of the city of Bayeux, who took the initiative in honoring photojournalists covering armed conflicts and their impact on civilian population or reporting news stories involving the defense of freedom and democracy.

Photos by Messinis were exhibited at this year’s Photojournalism Festival Visa pour l’Image, alongside other by Luisa Gouliamaki and Angelos Tzortzinis, who are also based at the Agence France-Presse in Athens.

The young photojournalist is likely set to surpass his father’s achievements, who has written his own professional history with significant career milestones including the Soviet invasion in Afghanistan and the wars in the Gulf and in the Balkans.

In a very difficult time, the son Messinis works hard in pursuing his passion and his urge for creativity, spreading the positive message of the other Greece beyond national borders.