Captions

Carpet is one of the symbolic elements of the wedding ceremony, especially in the Soviet era. "Happiness to the newlyweds" or a similar phrase was stuck on the carpet with cotton, which was hung on the wall behind the newlyweds.

1. Carpet is one of the symbolic elements of the wedding ceremony, especially in the Soviet era. "Happiness to the newlyweds" or a similar phrase was stuck on the carpet with cotton, which was hung on the wall behind the newlyweds.

{N} He took me to their house. They started to drink intentionally, he started it, so that no one would take me home, so that no one remained sober. I hadn’t been to their house before. If I got out of there, I would break off the engagement, but I didn’t get out of there. I had to sleep with his relative’s daughter. Well, they prepared the bed and she told me to lie down saying that she would come soon. I took off my clothes, put on the pajamas and hid my head under the blanket to get warm. I felt someone enter the room, but I didn’t raise my head to see who it was.

2. {N} He took me to their house. They started to drink intentionally, he started it, so that no one would take me home, so that no one remained sober. I hadn’t been to their house before. If I got out of there, I would break off the engagement, but I didn’t get out of there. I had to sleep with his relative’s daughter. Well, they prepared the bed and she told me to lie down saying that she would come soon. I took off my clothes, put on the pajamas and hid my head under the blanket to get warm. I felt someone enter the room, but I didn’t raise my head to see who it was.

{M} They said I had to go to the Avan district, “Acharyan 2” street, and get tested in the Center. And my husband is in Yerevan, taking his time drunk, he was just drinking and having fun. I called my husband and told him that I had been tested positive for AIDS. And my husband is like, such a thing cannot happen. I don’t remember a thing… I remember climbing the stairs crying, pregnant, dragging myself upstairs. To be honest, I don’t remember at all how the doctor approached us, I don’t remember because of the stress. We came home, and my husband started hitting his head against the wall. I call upon God, if only the baby didn’t get infected! The doctor gives hope saying there are cases when the children don’t get infected. I had breastfed the baby for quite a long time, a year and six months, how could he not get infected? He was infected, too.

3. {M} They said I had to go to the Avan district, “Acharyan 2” street, and get tested in the Center. And my husband is in Yerevan, taking his time drunk, he was just drinking and having fun. I called my husband and told him that I had been tested positive for AIDS. And my husband is like, such a thing cannot happen. I don’t remember a thing… I remember climbing the stairs crying, pregnant, dragging myself upstairs. To be honest, I don’t remember at all how the doctor approached us, I don’t remember because of the stress. We came home, and my husband started hitting his head against the wall. I call upon God, if only the baby didn’t get infected! The doctor gives hope saying there are cases when the children don’t get infected. I had breastfed the baby for quite a long time, a year and six months, how could he not get infected? He was infected, too.

The most preserved and consistently kept tradition in Armenia is the “red apple”. The girl must be virgin before marriage. Her virginity and purity are symbolized through the red apples that are taken to the girl's mother after the first night of marriage. Being a virgin also increases the likelihood that a woman can become infected with HIV from the first sexual intercourse.

4. The most preserved and consistently kept tradition in Armenia is the “red apple”. The girl must be virgin before marriage. Her virginity and purity are symbolized through the red apples that are taken to the girl's mother after the first night of marriage. Being a virgin also increases the likelihood that a woman can become infected with HIV from the first sexual intercourse.

{S} When I had my third child, my husband called me from Russia where he had gone to work and told me to not breastfeed. He had been tested and diagnosed with AIDS. He died one year later. After a year I was very sick… God helped me.

5. {S} When I had my third child, my husband called me from Russia where he had gone to work and told me to not breastfeed. He had been tested and diagnosed with AIDS. He died one year later. After a year I was very sick… God helped me.

In ancient times, Armenians gave dolls to newlyweds. The doll could not speak and would not tell anyone about all her troubles.

6. In ancient times, Armenians gave dolls to newlyweds. The doll could not speak and would not tell anyone about all her troubles.

{A} It doesn’t matter that only I have a status in our family, this stigma can spread on everyone, they throw that black veil on everyone.

7. {A} It doesn’t matter that only I have a status in our family, this stigma can spread on everyone, they throw that black veil on everyone.

At an Armenian wedding, two plates are placed on the doorstep and when the groom and the bride enter the groom’s house, they break the plates. If the bride does not manage to break the plate from the first attempt, it is a sign of misfortune or bad luck.

8. At an Armenian wedding, two plates are placed on the doorstep and when the groom and the bride enter the groom’s house, they break the plates. If the bride does not manage to break the plate from the first attempt, it is a sign of misfortune or bad luck.

{L} If we were to compare a man and an elephant, a man feels powerless in front of an elephant, for him HIV is that elephant that has covered his sun, it doesn’t let the sun come to him, it can trample him every second, he depends on him… When the first stage was over, I saw the elephant and began to examine its leg, then its tail, then its head, then the picture became complete, it started to shrink. I already understood what I was dealing with. I realized that the myths the TV, the Internet or that booklets, posters with scary images fed me with… I realized that in reality all that is a myth, there is no such scary picture that maybe used to be thirty years ago when there was no medicine. When that elephant started to get smaller and smaller, I could control it as I wanted.

9. {L} If we were to compare a man and an elephant, a man feels powerless in front of an elephant, for him HIV is that elephant that has covered his sun, it doesn’t let the sun come to him, it can trample him every second, he depends on him… When the first stage was over, I saw the elephant and began to examine its leg, then its tail, then its head, then the picture became complete, it started to shrink. I already understood what I was dealing with. I realized that the myths the TV, the Internet or that booklets, posters with scary images fed me with… I realized that in reality all that is a myth, there is no such scary picture that maybe used to be thirty years ago when there was no medicine. When that elephant started to get smaller and smaller, I could control it as I wanted.

Shame is one of the national things sitting in us. It’s a cultural thing. The shame is deep and has many layers.

10. Shame is one of the national things sitting in us. It’s a cultural thing. The shame is deep and has many layers.

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Finalist 2022

Nazik Armenakyan

Red Black White

Presentation

“Red Black White,” is a project about several women’s destinies that have changed dramatically due to the diagnosis of HIV, often acquired in marriage.

Women living with HIV in Armenia are ordinary citizens coming from traditional families. Due to poor socioeconomic conditions, many Armenian men spend a large part of the year working abroad, primarily in Russia. Due to circumstances such as lack of knowledge and the vulnerability of migrants, those men acquire STDs or HIV, which they transfer to their wives. Many women discover their condition after they become pregnant and get tested.

According to the National Center for Infectious Diseases (CJSC), there were 4,317 registered cases of HIV infection in March 2021 of which 30.6%, or 1,292, were females. Heterosexual transmission is the major route of disease spread, and 93.7% of women living with HIV acquired the infection from their husbands. The majority of cases were registered among women aged 20-29.

This disease is surrounded by silence and hostility. In Armenia, it is a very delicate subject to deal with, because it is not limited to HIV alone. It took me a long time to find a way to present the victims safely, without anyone being able to identify them. By building trusting relationships, while going through doubts and fears, the project aims to give voice to these silent women and make visible the social injustice entangled in tradition, cultural codes, patriarchy, and lack of choice.

Yerevan, Armenia, 2020-2021.

Biography

A documentary photographer, she began her career in agencies and magazines in her native Armenia. Only four years after finishing her studies at Caucasus Media Institute in the Armenian city of Yerevan, she won the top award and first prize in the People and Faces category of the Karl Bulla International Photo Contest with her work Survivors. In 2011, she won the Human Rights and Photography grant from the Magnum Foundation, which was a turning point in her career and allowed her to grow as a documentary photographer. Her work has been exhibited in Armenia, the USA, China, Hong Kong, India, and Russia and has been published in international media such as The New York Times Lens, Der Spiegel, Le Monde, Politiken or WOZ, and The Funambulist magazines.

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