Biography

Garik Gyurjyan is a Los Angeles based photographer. He teaches photography at California State University at Northridge. Graduating from Pasadena Art Center College of Design with a BFA degree in 2003 Garik has commissioned portraits for clients such as Times Magazine, Travel and Leisure Golf Magazine, Hollywood Records, DreamWorks Records, LA Weekly and others.

According to legend, Hayk, the great-great-grandson of Noah defeated the Babylonian king Bel in 2492 BC near the mountains of Lake Van and went on to establish the first Armenian nation. "Hayk" or "Hayastan" in Armenian. Therefore, according to tradition all Armenians are considered to be descendants of Hayk.

The exhibition "Children of Hayk" is a look at these descendants more than 4000 years later. These are portraits of Armenians from all walks of life, artists, musicians, scientist, religious leaders, soldiers and workers. Each person symbolizes the struggles and hopes of thousands of other Armenians and together they create a snapshot of Armenian society in the beginning of 21st century. It is a society with a growing diaspora and one that is as diverse and spread out as it has ever been.

Garik's style of portraiture is reminiscent of Penn and Avedon and could almost be described as compassionate. His affinity for his subjects is evident in most of his photographs, whether it is an actor staring down the camera or a priestly looking soldier full of anticipation. It feels like an optimistic and loving look at his people. Portraits are iconic but yet he is not pandering to his subjects. Each photograph seems to be capturing a moment that is full of subdued emotions and tension where the subject is not entirely comfortable or relaxed. The photographer attributes that to the 'wonderful" awkwardness of the situation of being in front of the camera.

"I don't necessarily want people to be completely comfortable in front of my camera", says Garik. "What the camera sees when the person is a little uncomfortable is much more interesting to me, in a way it's truer".