Name:
Dimitra Lavrakas

Born:
Cambridge, Massachusetts

At the age of 10, my family moved from Lowell, Massachusetts, a turn-of-the-century textile-mill city to the rural town of Dunstable – population 500, at that time more cows than people.
My family camped regularly, hiked, went rock hunting and spent summers at the Atlantic Ocean. Thanks to my parents, I developed a deep love of nature and the outdoors – particularly snow and ice.
I lived in Boston for almost 20 years, and whenever there was a blizzard, I’d take off across town and show up on friends’ doorstep covered in snow.
In 1988, I visited my brother in Alaska, and that was that. I moved in 1993 and by February of 1994, I was on the North Slope. One of the first stories I did was on scientists studying ocean ice. I was in ice heaven!
As a kid, I’d always visited elderly people in my neighborhood—I had a route and they loved the visits and I loved the stories and endless cookies. In Barrow, I was so very lucky to know some of the most wonderful elders before they passed. Again – tea, cookies and stories.
My thanks goes out to all the seniors I’ve known throughout my life for sparking my love of a good tale and the retelling of history and experiences, making my career in photojournalism an obvious choice.
My son, Alexios Lavrakas Moore, is a writer and project manager for the Brooklyn Center for the Environment in New York City.

Published Photography
Alaska Magazine, Alaska Business Monthly, Alaska Contractors’ Magazine, Up Here Magazine, Anchorage Daily News, Associated Press, Alaska Business Monthly, Chicago Tribune, National Geographic Traveler, San Francisco Examiner, Newsweek, Seattle Time and the San Francisco Bay Guardian.