Looking at Yerevan Through Less Rose-Colored Lenses

Armen Muradyan

At ImYerevan, we think it's interesting that aspects of Yerevan life which go unnoticed by locals are interesting to those visiting the city for the first time. It's probably because since we live here, we think we are experts on what it is that makes this city (and even, country) unique and valuable. We take for granted things that are commonplace in our lives, but unique for others. In this article, we present Yerevan through the lens of some of these outsiders, well-known photographers who see the city from a unique perspective.

Thomas Dworzak

The German photographer Thomas Dworzak is a longtime admirer of the Caucasus. He has, in fact, acquired fame and notoriety from a series he compiled of photographs of the Caucasus. For many years, Dworzak worked in Chechnya as a military photographer. His time there, as well as his time in other military regions, like Grozny, Tbilisi, Dagestan, Nagorno-Karabakh, has resulted in projects which have made Dworzak one of the most successful documentary photographers. He has also been in Yerevan several times and here are some examples of some of his photos.

September 2000

September, 2000: Armenian women dancing. We like that Dworzak makes an effort to depict dancing outside of traditional folk dances that many outsiders think of when they 'imagine' Armenia.

May, 1995: Armenian Church

Carl De Keyzer

Carl De Keyzer was born in 1958 in Belgium. He taught at the Royal Academy of Fine Arts, Ghent and at the beginning of 80s, he founded XYZ-Photography Gallery. The interntionally acclaimed photographer visited Yerevan at the end of 80s and conducted a photo series on its streets, which later became famous.

1988: Yerevan's Republic Square

1988: Meeting against Moscow's central government

1988: An Armenian wedding

Alex Webb

Alex Webb’s photography has been released in GEO, New York Times Magazine and Time magazines. It has been on display in the most famous galleries of Europe and USA. Today, we can surely say that Webb’s art has big influence in the genre of contemporary street photography. Here are some examples of his work in Yerevan.

Railway Station

Vernissaj, the outdoor market

Tsitsernakaberd, the Armenian Genocide memorial complex.

Henri Cartier-Bresson

The famous 20^th century French photographer, Henri Cartier-Bresson, is justifiably recognized as the father of photo-journalism. His method and style of photography has been taught in countless schools of photography and his works have been recognized as iconic for decades. He is also famous for photographing famous icons, such as Marilyn Monroe, Jean-Paul Sartre, Albert Camus and other cultural figures of the 20th century. In 1972, Yerevan became an object of his interest. Here are some examples of Yerevan through his lens.

1972: "The Museum Guard" -- we liked this picture because it was depicted Yerevan in a very unique way, through its unorthodox selection of museum guards. Something that, perhaps, locals may not pick up on.

1972: "Heart" Central hospital

1972: “Ararat” cognac’s packaging

Ian Berry

The famous English famous photographer, Ian Berry, captured Yerevan when the city was in a grave state. The photographer wanted to hunt just that shots. He wanted to show in cadres the life in all its display. Yerevan was the city of challenges, famine and cold which won in the struggle of existence.