It hit around 30 degrees (celsius) here in Armenia today, though it's still considered spring. I didn't really plan to go out today, but my love for the surroundings suddenly pulled out some motivation. I charged up the batteries, packed up by backpack to the top, and threw myself out into the world yet again. Rarely do I feel I give myself a day to just relax inside, the pain of life going by outside just doesn't allow me to sit idle and miss it all. I must keep moving. My backpack reached a point in which I had to strap down my camera gimbal on the side of it, dangling pretty much as I walked. I had no destination in particular in mind today, I just knew I wanted to shoot something. I went to certain areas I had discovered recently, and then, for some reason I decided I would visit God. This is one of the oldest churches in the world, and it's an incredibly religious place to no surprise. Full of people making their little visits to worship, as well as appreciate the history in the space. It's found within its own compound with many religious symbols around and different buildings. It seems there's a ton of life here, a very active space.
This isn't my first time coming here, I came during winter, to which it felt cold, overcast and generally quite empty. It's so different now, though I still think that the church itself is closed to visitors, as I haven't seemed to figure out if you can actually go inside. I think this may be due to some construction taking place to maintain some of the tower. Hopefully it opens soon though.
If you look closely, you'll see me in the window to the left! Moving on, however, I walked around and did a bit of exploration in more isolated areas at first. Then began to notice the life around me, the many priests that lived in this space, funnily still driving the Soviet era Lada around. They talked to each other from afar, shouting up into windows or walking on their own. So many of them would casually be scrolling through their phones, making calls and just showing that they're regular people. It's interesting to see, given the contrast in England where such members of faith are almost seen as alien. This gave the space a more authentic feeling to it, that those here had their beliefs but also personal lives at the same time. It's cool to know that I can walk around this space with such freedom, to be able to capture them in such moments without anybody saying anything about it. In fact, a few weeks ago I even met one that gave us a tour of a church, cracking jokes here and there before he returned to his duties of contributing to the cutting of tree branches with a chainsaw.
The appearances of these priests is interesting. Long black robes that are certainly influenced from a long history. They walk in different ways, some slower than others. Some clinging to books that they hold tightly to their chests, others take long, fast strides in attempt to get somewhere.
The space had turned green with the strong sunlight that reaches the Earth as of late. Armenia isn't entirely a green space, and it's likely that in and around Yerevan you'll find dry, rocky landscapes that are just brutal to the skin. Endless stones and dust beneath your feet. Fields void of grass but home to large boulders from the mountains over the centuries. This was the greenest are I had seen as of late, kept within its tidiness, but full of such beauty as it also provided some shelter in the form of shade. A few tourists were in the area, but many of this compound's present inhabitants were regular citizens, coming to find a place to sit and think, to speak with their God, to be at some relative peace from the world outside of the walls. I could feel it too. That sense of calm, away from the dust kicked up by cars, the honking of horns, the endless crowds of people that are running from one place to another. I observed as a man walked up to the church's walls and kissed it. No, not passionately, but with a love for the history and culture he held.
This is a very religious country, a very kind and religious people. They aren't afraid to show that passion they have. One thing you may notice here is how people will put their hands over their chests when they pass by a church, even if they're driving or on public transport at the time. Really putting their faith in God in such moments!
Birds couldn't really be seen here, but you could hear them chirping from above. Finding comfort in the branches that had started to blossom and produce sheltering leaves. A feeling of life was found all over, and I found this interesting as whenever I would visit a church in England, I felt cold. A loneliness even. That I wasn't in a place of significant importance, but instead a place of intense sadness that made me want to quickly leave. I'm not a religious person, but I find that I enjoy the atmosphere of churches here, visiting them out of interest and photographing them. I never did this in England at all. Maybe it was the introduction of spring here that contributed to some of this interest, to see the golden sun on such old buildings, and the gardens that surround them with such beauty, in a place that I mentioned doesn't really have a whole lot of green to it. I quite like the fact that these photographs are black and white, while I talk about colour. In a way, I guess it encourages you to think of what that actually looks like. To produce your own mental image based on these photographs.