“I’m more of a consequential photographer than an action photographer. All my projects are basically about what happened. They are more research or studies on memories, people, places, topics,” said documentary photographer Nazik Armenakyan. 

After working as a photojournalist for many years, she and her co-creator friends created the 4 Plus Independent Documentary Photography Center in 2012, where it became possible to work on long-term projects. That is, to expand the scope of the day and event documentation. 

Nazik Armenakyan’s series is about different issues: national shame, public taboos, stigma and discrimination, longing, and extreme situations. The epidemic and the war were special stages for Nazik, and very personal. 

On the very first day of the Artsakh war in 2020, their son Mikael left for the front. And the mother-photographer returned to her profession with great difficulty. 

Nazik Armenakyan is sure that these times, when the wounds are still fresh, should be used so that people can transfer their memory and experience in some way. And photographers have to document it, regardless of whether it will quickly become a project and will be published or it will remain in the archives for a long time as a material waiting for reconsideration. 

Often a need for time to think, to understand, to learn, to read arises, and that takes time. 

“It seems to me that for every relationship, and photography is a relationship, distance is a good companion because the camera is also a means of distance. You cannot enter a person’s face, thoughts, and emotions through that camera. That’s why you have to keep your distance and work more calmly, thoughtfully, and carefully.” 

And the most important thing is to be able to build a dialogue without words, with only one frame. 

Anna Hakobyan