Ioannis Lambros (1915-1988)

Ioannis D. Lambros began experimenting in the photographic field during the middle war period. In the field of photography he has been known for his participation in the administration and activities of the Greek Photographic Society (G.P.S.).

He was one of its founder members playing an important role in many operations. He collaborated with the editors of the quarterly magazine Helliniki Photographia, issued by G.P.S. in 1954, in which he published photographic material and technical articles about the photographic art. From 1968 till 1975 as president of the Photographic Society, he used his managing and artistic skills in order to develop and promote the amateur artistic photography in Greece and abroad.

From 1961 to 1968 he collaborated with the Greek National Tourism Organisation and his pictures were used in its advertising posters playing thus an important role in the promotion and the image of our country during the post war period. 

He worked in the Hellenic State Railways from 1942 until 1979 when he retired after reaching the highest rank of President of the Hellenic Railway Organisation. His professional career gave him the opportunity to travel in the country depicting with his camera the development of the railway network. In the course of time, those pictures turned out to be realistic evidence of the unknown for many people railway life. In addition, his restless camera captured the beauty of the Greek countryside in such a way, that the spectator is gently and nostalgically transported to a side of Greece that no longer exists.

His portraits on the other hand, depict almost exclusively relatives and friends, most of them starring his two daughters, who had been valuable assistants in his photographic work. However, there are also portraits of eminent Athenians such as the sculptor Thanasis Apartis, the choreographer Maria Chors and the polititian Tzannis Tzannetakis.

The photographic work of Ioannis Lambros was kindly donated to the Photographic Archive of the Benaki Museum in 2002 by his daughters Sonia Lambrou and Fani Vafiadaki.