The tourist season is picking up in Yerevan, as are the temperatures. I have been getting out a lot while also trying to avoid some of those more touristic areas where the crowds become a bit too much and the photography potential thins out. There comes a point where photographing the streets becomes a challenge as crowds blend into one continuous flow of people, with little different between them in appearance, emotion, or gesture. I search for the chaos. I feel like I thrive within it. Where the weirdest moments reveal themselves to me and beg to be captured.
I no longer feel like I have a comfort zone. If I see chaos, I run to it. I get right in the middle of it. I search for the interactions with the crazy. I ask questions. I talk. I photograph. I engage within the space in which I search for potential. I have fallen in love with street photography. It has devoured me, and the worst thing about it is that Yerevan is a very small city. It's so limiting sometimes, but that addiction remains, especially as the light comes out, and the streets fill up more. Some events here and there, but I long for those engagements with people where I stand there alongside them, and talk about whatever it is that's going on. On life. On the events. On anything, really.
Even with that addiction, I may spend an entire day walking under that scorching sun only to return home with nothing. And sometimes it's a bit frustrating but I appreciate the fact that it still got me outside. Still attempting to live and engage within the space I live in. Finding new people. Searching for new stories and connections. Even if I go home having not talked to anyone new and only seen familiar faces pass by as a result of constant routine, I am thankful I fell in love with photography enough to have been able to get outside and see life around me. To not be confined to four walls and never curious about the world unfolding beyond them.
I feel like I have been drawn to unique moments in particular. That I have been searching for the moments in cities that seem strange. The ones that make us feel confused, lacking context and desperate for it. The moments that stand out the most that others may otherwise miss. I feel like that's the kind of street photography that has been really calling me as of late rather than simple portraits of people. Though I still do those sometimes too if someone stands out enough. The feeling of landing one of those more unique photographs feels so much more rewarding. Like I really did capture something rare that was otherwise missed by the masses. The feeling that this is some odd simulation and these moments follow me specifically around, knowing I have a camera. If that makes any sense...
And lastly, here is some beautiful glowing light around golden hour, punching through the small gaps of the larger buildings in Yerevan.