ARMENIAN-AMERICANS AMERICAN-ARMENIANS A Search for Identity and Meaning in Diaspora

Armenians have been immigrants from the Middle East to the United States since the second half of the 19th Century seeking relief from persecution, and fleeing massacre and genocide in Turkey and elsewhere. Where ever they reside in the New World family roots are planted by the immigrants, but over the generations they have refused total assimilation and the dream of returning someday to what for many is only a mental model of shared memories and what might have been, has always been kept alive. I began a visual study of this group by choosing to enter the culture in a personal way and have covered many aspects of the various groups of Armenians in the United States My life long photography project is a semi-biographical story about Armenians in American who immigrated from the Middle East starting in the later half of the 19th century, and my personal experience with this group that I could choose to be part of or ignore and melt into the surrounding American milieu. I chose the path less traveled and aim my inquisitive lens and senses towards the Armenians at my career and financial peril! This became a group and personal search for an old and new identity that had been lost through the nearly total destruction of a national group and culture. Because I was introduced to the Armenian story of persecution, war, humiliation, genocide and flight by my maternal grandparents, who were survivors of what has been called the Forgotten Genocide of 1915, at an early age, and being a curious and concerned person, a history major with a strong affinity for fine art, this idea seemed the right thing for me to pursue. Post-graduation I had the idea of visually documenting the Armenian story as I lived and encountered it from my family, friends, organizations and the Armenians living in the United States, especially in the Boston and New England areas, but in no way limited geographically. I enrolled in an Armenian studies program where I was strongly encouraged by one of the professors to begin this story, and then photography school to learn the technical and professional aspect of the art and began by photographing, family, friends, and people I met along the course of my life. The photographs presented here are a small sample of the many images made over a lifetime of observation and it’s time to begin sharing my experience with a wider audience so I hope that I can do so with the people of Cortona and visitors to the exhibitions.