A walk through a project · Armenia, December 2020 to April 2022
The Art of Seeing, The Art of Remembering
Four journeys, two villages, and the family albums they kept. From the field notes for my book, An Armenian Journal.
Entry one · The road in
In November 2020 I decided to travel to Armenia. The war was coming to an end. It was later called the 44-day war.
I left London in the knowledge that my mission was worth our family’s while. And I literally did not know anyone upon arrival.
Entry two · Building trust
Building trust is part sense of time, part sense of integrity.
Promising to return had certainly dealt with the latter. In the end I went four times.
Field note · Mets Masrik, 2021
The mothers of Masrik.
I photographed the mothers of the village at their own front doors, against the lace of their curtains. In a set of short films, each family stands in silence in front of its house.
The films · Mothers of Masrik
One family a week, every Sunday on YouTube. Each film comes in two versions: the family in silence, and the family in their own words.
Entry three · The albums come out
Inspiration can come from many places. A picture wall in the Khachik Museum inspired my documentary film.
The idea was to talk about the museum’s archival images, and to match this with the scanning of family photo albums.
Field note · Khachik, June 2021
Her husband slipped away from the proceedings, only to return with a box of negatives. They had many.
Later, one gentleman arrived at the town hall with photo albums under his arm. In this burning heat. He told us he was too excited about the project to listen to the instructions.
From the family archives of Khachik
Scanned with each family in 2022 and shared with their permission.
I’m afraid peace is hardly possible.
Entry four · Breaking bread
Anahit invited me to the local bakery to meet women baking lavash in support of the war effort. They had started all the way back in September.
The bread was warm and fresh. Armenians tend to eat it with dry, salty cheese. Not too dissimilar to feta, but saltier. Delicious.
Field note · Armavir, December 2020
An opening in the ground, laid out with clay, with hot coals at the bottom.
A large pot with the lamb and some traditional stew was lowered into the hole. The meat was so tender it fell off the bone. With more vodkas came more speeches and anecdotes. What a feast.
Entry five · Going back
It was important to me to return to Khachik to get their approval to represent their community, potentially on a global stage.
Irena could not shake off labelling me a spy. Not until she eventually saw the first cut of the film.
Entry six · The film
End of the walk
Take the walk further
Next in Armenia In Their Hands: the workshops →