VII

Location Midwest, WY, USA
Warsaw, Poland
Paris, France
New York, NY, United States
Yerevan, Armenia
Netherlands
Oslo, Norway
Sarajevo, Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bosnia and Herzegovina
Nairobi County, Kenya
Berkeley, CA, United States
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Anush Babajanyan / Yerevan, Armenia

Armenian photographer Anush Babajanyan focuses her work on social narratives related towomen, issues of minorities and the aftermath of the conflict in Nagorno Karabakh, among others. In addition to working extensively in the Caucasus, she also continues to photograph in Turkey, the Middle East and West Africa. Much of Anush Babajanyan’s recent activity has been dedicated to peace building processes between Armenia and Turkey. In 2016, she co-founded the #BridgingStories project that brought together young photographers from Turkey and Armenia, inan effort to bridge peace between the two nations. Anush is currently hand-making her first book, the House of Culture, about the memory ofSoviet Armenian culture houses. Before joining VII, Anush co-founded and was a member of women photographers’ collective 4Plus. Anush received a grant from the Open Society Foundations Documentary Photography Project in 2013 assisting her continuous work between Armenia and Turkey. Anush Babajanyan’s photography has been published in The New York Times, Washington Post, National Geographic, Foreign Policy Magazine, and various other international publications.

Sur- Spirit Under Curfew
People in the historical center Sur in Diyarbakir, Turkey, fled their houses during clashes between Turkish police and Kurdish militants, in 2015-2016. Many returned to find their houses looted. The family of Halide (far left), Gulistan (in the middle), and Kader (far right), a family of 14, left Sur for 2 months in winter 2016. Only a young man remained to take care of the pigeons and dogs. People were looting the neighbourhoods at the time, and someone stole a Kalashnikov gun from their house.
Sur- Spirit Under Curfew
Veiled entrance of a house that is said to have belonged to Armenians, and is now inhabited by a Kurdish family in Diyarbakir, Turkey.
Syrian Armenians in Armenia and Nagorno Karabakh
Maral, 11, is the only female in her family, and does most of the housework herself. Her father, Serop Tomassian, is a single father of four. Their family is from Kobani in Syria, and arrived in Armenia in 2015.
Syrian Armenians in Armenia and Nagorno Karabakh
The bedroom of the family of Manush Moses, 41, and Soghomon Amseian, 48, who fled their home in Syria’s eastern city of Deir Ezzor in 2013. The family moved to Qamishli for two years, and then moved to Armenia in 2015. Before the war disturbed their lives, Soghomon owned a photo studio in Deir Ezzor, which had been the family business for generations. Soghomon does not have a full time job, he works on demand assembling furniture. Manush works as a cook in a kindergarten where they also take their youngest son. The hardships are making the family rethink their stay in Armenia, and possibly move to Lebanon or any other country with better economy.
Syrian Armenians in Armenia and Nagorno Karabakh
The family of pictured Mari Kilejian, 41, and her husband Khachig Manuel, 56, was one of the last to flee the northern Syrian city of Kobani in 2014 when the Islamic State attacked it. They endured hardships on their way to the bordering Turkish town of Suruc, where they stayed in a refugee camp for almost a year before being able to come to Armenia. Mari and Khachig have three children.
Syrian Armenians in Armenia and Nagorno Karabakh
Aline Kassabji and her husband Vahram Der Ohanian, along with their son, arrived in Yerevan from Aleppo in September 2014. They opened a sandwich shop in the Armenian capital, continuing a business that Vahram had worked in since his teenage years. Aline prepares the ingredients for the sandwiches at home. She is passionate about Russian language and Vladimir Putin.
Four-Day War in Nagorno Karabakh
Vagharshak Grigoryan,12, was killed in shelling that hit the neighbourhood of his school in the Martuni region of Nagorno Karabakh at 8:30 AM, April 2. The child was one of the four civilians killed as a result of the re-ignited conflict between April 2 and April 5, 2016 between Nagorno Karabakh and Azerbaijan.
Four-Day War in Nagorno Karabakh
With furniture and toys covered with dirt and dust, one of the destroyed houses in the Talish village belongs to the Sahakyan family. The parents with three children and their grandmother, escaped the house the night when the shootings began on April 2, 2016.
Four-Day War in Nagorno Karabakh
Lieutenant Vahe Avanesyan, 27, and soldier Harut Gasparyan,19, in a trench at a frontline post after an order to hide, during military operations at the frontline on April 4, 2016.
On the Run
On July 29, police in Yerevan dispersed protesters using grenades and force, leaving many injured, including journalists. Several armed men stormed the building of the Erebuni Police Station in Yerevan, Armenia, early morning July 17th, 2016. The situation continued for two weeks, thousands of people gathered in protests to support the Sasna Tsrer group that had seized the police station.
Inlandish
LORA When I saw Lora in the street she was walking slowly and proudly with a plastic bag of bread in her hand. In a way, she was very much like everyone. At the same time, there was something strange and outstanding about her. Maybe it was the slow walk, the gaze, or her sunglasses that she never took off. Lora later told me that her husband was the town’s Prosecutor-General, and that she was an English professor at the American University in Yerevan, which is unfortunately untrue. -- The women I photograph never consider themselves outside the norms of society. Yet every time they walk along streets of Yerevan, people look with amazement. In an environment that is often conservative and controlled by men, these women separate themselves by dressing differently or wearing bright make up. If it is possible to live and be like these women choose to be in Armenia, then it is also possible for Armenian women to make many more steps towards action, work, love and freedom in their lives.
Inlandish
SVETA I met Sveta in 2008, when I was just beginning to photograph the Inlandish ladies. We met several times and she never agreed for her picture to be taken. I found her again in 2013, and this time she agreed right away. Sveta told me everyone loved her in her neighbourhood. And truly, everyone greeted her as we walked. She said she lived alone in a three-room apartment, and that she spoke five languages - Armenian, Russian, English, French and German. -- The women I photograph never consider themselves outside the norms of society. Yet every time they walk along streets of Yerevan, people look with amazement. In an environment that is often conservative and controlled by men, these women separate themselves by dressing differently or wearing bright make up. If it is possible to live and be like these women choose to be in Armenia, then it is also possible for Armenian women to make many more steps towards action, work, love and freedom in their lives.
The House of Culture
House of Culture in Gusana village The House of Culture is a journey through the inner lives of Soviet era Culture Houses in villages of Armenia. These places that carry the memory of performance, are left to decay eventually and slowly. This is what an insider becomes aware of. The House of Culture project intends to bring together the connection of the human and the houses themselves.
The House of Culture
House of Culture in Tsaghkalanj village The House of Culture is a journey through the inner lives of Soviet era Culture Houses in villages of Armenia. These places that carry the memory of performance, are left to decay eventually and slowly. This is what an insider becomes aware of. The House of Culture project intends to bring together the connection of the human and the houses themselves.
The House of Culture
House of Culture in Gladzor village The House of Culture is a journey through the inner lives of Soviet era Culture Houses in villages of Armenia. These places that carry the memory of performance, are left to decay eventually and slowly. This is what an insider becomes aware of. The House of Culture project intends to bring together the connection of the human and the houses themselves.
The Twins of Koumassi
Rasidatou and Latifatou, 4 The Twins of Koumassi Mothers dress them in mirroring and often traditional outfits and bring them out and about the streets of central Abidjan, Cote d’Ivoire. It is a belief that is centuries old here, and in several countries of West Africa, that twins have spiritual and mystical powers. When in need for a problem to be solved or for a positive change to happen, people often come to twins, donate to them and seek for a blessing, with the hope that the power of the twins will help their wishes come true. In the district of Koumassi in Abidjan, the twins and their mothers are concentrated around the area of the Koumassi Grande Mosque, where visitors of this mosque can see them after their prayers. The twins of different ages spend most of their day in this area, with others’ trust in their spiritual powers supporting the children and their families.
The Twins of Koumassi
Zena and Barakis, 7 The Twins of Koumassi Mothers dress them in mirroring and often traditional outfits and bring them out and about the streets of central Abidjan, Cote d’Ivoire. It is a belief that is centuries old here, and in several countries of West Africa, that twins have spiritual and mystical powers. When in need for a problem to be solved or for a positive change to happen, people often come to twins, donate to them and seek for a blessing, with the hope that the power of the twins will help their wishes come true. In the district of Koumassi in Abidjan, the twins and their mothers are concentrated around the area of the Koumassi Grande Mosque, where visitors of this mosque can see them after their prayers. The twins of different ages spend most of their day in this area, with others’ trust in their spiritual powers supporting the children and their families.
Children of Nagorno Karabakh
One of the seven children of Araksyan Grigoryan, 43, in the living room of a house that the family received from the Nagorno Karabakh government a few years ago.
Children of Nagorno Karabakh
Anjelika Ayaryan, 10, stands under a tree as her friend Tatevik picks berries. Anjelika is one of the seven Ayaryan children. She lives and studies in Shushi, Nagorno Karabakh together with her two sisters. The rest of their family lives in Martakert.
Children of Nagorno Karabakh
Chareqtar village in Nagorno Karabakh has many large families, many of whom struggle with poverty. Being three hours away from the capital Stepanakert with little opportunity for work, the monthly benefits received for each child is sometimes the main income supporting families.