One year in Armenia
The end of December 2023 marks exactly one year since I have been in Armenia. During this time I have made about a hundred good shots that I am not ashamed of, some of which I managed to show at the exhibition in July in Gyumri at the Aslamazyan Sisters Museum. And some photographs even transformed into postcards that can be bought from me personally in Armenia, or you can send a donation to the card and receive by mail a real postcard with a stamp.
The first half of the year I lived in Gyumri, and the second half in Yerevan, where I plan to continue engaging in creativity, photography, developing, scanning, and handmade optical printing.
In July I discovered a new genre for myself — presenting photographs to the people depicted in them. In 2023 I managed to present framed works to Barber Yura from Gyumri, Architect Levon Vardanyan, and Grandma Vardanush from Yerevan; you can watch all the videos of the presentations on my Instagram.
Over one year I have gone through a lot and have seen a lot. In my photographs you can observe my acquaintance with Armenia — gradual, unhurried. An acquaintance not only with nature and architecture, but most importantly, with people, without whom nothing in this world would exist. The iron fountain and the barbershop in Gyumri, the Cascade in Yerevan, and many other things that I managed to capture — all of them have their own story. Grandma Vardanush, who is holding a rooster so that it does not attack me in the yard; Barber Yura, who has been working in the barbershop for a huge number of years, who clearly noticed that I was photographing him but slyly turned his gaze away; Architect Levon Vardanyan, who not only works in his professional field but also helps homeless animals. Every person has their own interesting story, just like the places I have captured.
One year in Armenia, as my friend the artist Filipp Lagunovich-Cherepko from Minsk noted, is a term, not a tourist trip — it is already an acquaintance, and I am endlessly happy about it.
Armenia has become my second home.