The reality of the effects of war are brought home in the gallery of 24-year-old Armenian Karen Mirzoyan.
Now living and working in Yerevan, Tbilisi-born Karen traveled to Lebanon shortly
after the recent war there and concentrated on how the hostilities had affected
the children of Bent Jbeil city in the south of the country.
“After the war, many children lost their homes and found temporary accommodation in public buildings and schools. Instead of a warm bed, each child only had a shabby piece of foam to sleep on,” says Karen.
He photographed each child with his and her makeshift mattress in a school in Sidon.
“I went to Lebanon with three other photographers and worked in the refugee camp with one of them, Anahit Hayrapetyan,” says Karen. “The local offices of the United Nations assisted us greatly by assigning us two assistants, Ahmad Majzoub and Mahmoud Elassi, who helped us a great deal.
Working there wasn't easy but the local people were of great assistance and we felt no hostile attitude or danger. My main concern was not to embarrass the children I was photographing.”
A graduate of the Caucasus Media Institute (CMI) and Yerevan’s State
Linguistic University, Karen’s long list of publications ranges from The
Times Educational Supplement in London through The Associated Press and
CNN.com to CBS News, World Press Photo Enter (edition two), Pravda
and Yerevan magazine.
His exhibitions include one in his now home town and in Moscow’s Kremlin. He currently works with ArmeniaNow.com and Patker Photo Agency, which represents photographers in the Southern Caucasus and Central Asia. He was awarded a Diploma of Excellence during the 2004-2005 CMI course.
All of the images in Karen’s gallery were, he says, “captured using my good old Mamiya c33 medium-format camera, except one for which I used a Canon 20D digital camera”.
He used natural light for each shot.
“In my work I use many different techniques, from digital through to medium format film. I like working equally in black and white and color. I believe that every single theme requires a specific approach.”
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