02 November 2021
Organized upon the initiative of the National Cinema Center of Armenia, the ceremonial opening of the exhibition "Rudolf Vatinyan's Portrait Photography of 1960-80s" will kick off at Mirzoyan Library's exhibition hall on November 5, at 19:00. The exhibition is dedicated to the 80th anniversary of Rudolf Vatinyan (1941-2021), a renowned photographer and cameramen.
During his career, Vatinyan made more than 30 films, including some masterpieces of Armenian cinema, such as "August" (1976), "Tango of Our Childhood" (1984), "Ter Voghormea" (1996). Since a profession of a cameraman took roots from photography Vatinyan used his camera as a tool to experiment and created dozens of photo series and hundreds of b/w images, which had never been brought to public attention. The photos included in the exhibition are derived from Vatinyan's photo archive and presented to the public for the first time.
The exhibition includes about 40 photographs and aims to present Vatinyan's art photography as a remarkable phenomenon of Armenian contemporary art and culture of the 1960s - 80s. The focus of the exhibition is Vatinyan's portrait photography, through which he dignified many of his famous colleagues or close friends, such as Yuri Yerznkyan, Frunze Dovlatyan, Albert Mkrtchyan and Mher Mkrtchyan, Armine Kalents, Yervand Kochar, Minas Avetisyan, the Elibekyan brothers, Gayane Khachaturyan, Tigran Mansuryan and others.
The significance of this portrait photography exhibition surpasses its historical and documentary value. Even in case of family photo portraits, Vatinyan acted like an audacious philosopher and artist, creating vivid images which side in harmony with international modern art developments.
The exhibition is implemented with the support of the RA Ministry of Education, Science, Culture and Sports; activities were coordinated by Vigen Galstyan, NCCA’s Head of Heritage Department.
