This isn’t my first “road” project. I’ve taken many photographs from buses and trains traveling between Tbilisi and Batumi, but in Armenia the format turned out to be different: this time I was shooting from the passenger seat of a car.
It is both similar to and different from my previous projects. Once again, I had no control over the speed, and the photographs were taken as spontaneously as possible, with no control over the space, the light, or the angle. Some were shot through the windshield, usually with a windshield wiper visible at the bottom of the frame; others through the window to my right, with the foreground blurred by motion.
I like this series of road projects because I don’t want to pretend that I can really get to know a country during my short trips. I simply record the space as it appears and immediately disappears, turning it into a collection of photographs. Never perfect, of course. A fraction of a second, and you’ve already moved on, and the image stays with you however it chose to stay.
For me, it’s a meditative practice of letting go of control while keeping my attention fully alert and my reactions quick.
The project includes several series, both in color and black and white, photographed in different weather conditions. The first one I’m sharing is from the day I left Armenia—the first and only rainy day of the trip. Instead of driving straight to the airport, we decided to take a detour around Lake Sevan.
