Emma Marashlyan “Do not Forget Our Roots and History”

“ Photo Atelier Marashlyan” founded by Emma Marashlyan is well-known both in Armenia and abroad. The photography studio is probably the only one in its content –  Emma Marashlian’s idea to embody the national costume revived the Armenian costume and interest towards it, which can be said to have created a new culture of photography.

Initially, the goal was simply to restore the family photo tradition, which quickly turned into a concept of costume photography. The launch showed that people really want to be photographed in national costumes. It also attracts the attention of many tourists during their visit to Armenia.

In 2010 Emma Marashlyan and her family moved to Yerevan from Moscow, where she lived, studied and worked for many years. She has always dreamed about her own photo gallery, which will have something to do with Armenia. From every visit to Armenia, she used to take many photographs, so when the time had elapsed, it was clear what she would do in her homeland. Although the beginning was very difficult.

“When we moved to Yerevan, it was difficult to start, but I had a goal, I figured out what I wanted to do – not only to photograph but to revive the Armenian national costume, interest in it,” she told us in a conversation. “But it was also a complicated desire. it turned out that skilled tailors in Armenia do not have the experience of making taraz and it is restricted to cunning, wearing some golden clothes, which is incomparable with the way our grandparents’ used to make their everyday dresses in the previous centuries. But in time, she succeeded in finding her tailor, Taguhi Simavoryan, and later created new frontiers, and today, years later, there are dozens of dresses in the “Marashlian” photo gallery, headgear, hats and jewelry that pass the photos a special charm.

“At first we aimed to restore the tradition of family photography. People wanted to photograph with traditional costumes. So, we started rebuilding family photography with traditional costumes.

The photo gallery was in the center of public attention at the beginning of the previous year, when a photo of the Armenian woman and her black husband and their child was published in costumes. The public, as we recall, was divided into two camps and had long been discussing the word “gene of Armenians”. Many people forecast that it would harm the photo gallery, but it turned out to be the opposite. “Even so, we have photographed many such families and published these photos, but this kind of agitation was only in case of  this one family. We had to remove this photo to avoid the unhealthy and absurd criticisms addressed to our clients, but after that incident many mixed families visited our studio. And although the wave of criticism was great, I am glad that there were more positive responses and the number of adequate positions was even greater, “she said. Continuing the topic, Mrs. Marashlian mentioned that she is glad that Armenian women are more free and more initiative-taking, confident in their strengths than a few years ago. According to her, Armenian women are very smart and have great potential.

Many people ask me how I succeeded, how I was not afraid to try to start. That’s right, you come and try to persuade anyone who has a financial capacity to help you,  to believe in your project. In my case it was James Tufenkian, he believed and felt that I was living with that idea. And we have to be optimistic, “said our interlocutor. For the first year the studio operated in the Tufenkian hotel, and  a year later moved to a historic building in the heart of Yerevan, where it still works. The area is small, but has its distinctive charm, with its entire wall hanging on its costumes and clothes, here’s the first sample – the dress with Artsakh trimmings which Emma Marashlyan donated to the photo gallery.

Mrs. Marashlyan says that during the five years of her activity, the photo studio has never changed the price. She says that it is also a policy not only to make an innovative idea that, as the time showed, was expected, but also preserved the level that is balancing art and business.

And as it was in the beginning, today’s photography activity is to propagate Armenian values, not forget about our roots and history.

Full text in Armenian