At the prestigious international photo salon PhotoArt PRAGUE of the Czech Photographic Society, the work of the "Students" of the photojournalist of the Turkmen news agency "TDH" Vyacheslav Sarkisyan was awarded a gold medal.
On this occasion, the editors of the "Golden Age" turned to Vyacheslav Adamovich and asked him to share his impressions of the competition and answer a few questions.
- Vyacheslav Adamovich, first of all, I would like to congratulate you on the award and ask about participation in the competition and its features?
- Thanks for the compliments. In this case, I was sent a personal invitation due to the fact that many of my early works were exhibited at the most diverse photo contests in terms of rank and location. And the main feature of the FIAP photo contest (International Federation of Photographic Art at UNESCO) is that they just don’t get into it. Draw your own conclusions: from 44 countries of the world, in total, more than 2,500 works were sent to the competition. Only 130 of them were selected to participate in the exhibition. Moreover, the geography of the images covered all continents.
- What attracted you personally to the idea of creating Student Girls and did you expect to win with it in one of the most prestigious international photo contests?
- Pictures like “Students” are more luck. However, in order to catch it, the photographer must constantly be in a state of search, work on himself daily, despite previous merits and successes. The photo was taken on the eve of March 8 - International Women's Day. On assignment, I ended up in the Ashgabat cinema and concert hall. Before the solemn part of the festive program, he walked around the decorated rooms. Looking into the hall, I saw girls in national dresses. I got on stage and took a few shots. It turned out the way it did. Luck. Youth, beauty. Turkmenistan. The picture took it all in. A competent and strict jury, in all likelihood, appreciated all this.
By the way, this happened with my previous photographic works Discussing Fashion, Market, Traditions and Modernity, which were awarded prestigious awards. And there, to a large extent, luck played a role.
- As far as we know, this is not your first participation and award at international photo contests. A few words about this?
- During my long career, my work has been exhibited at more than 150 photo contests in 45 countries around the world. There are 22 awards in my collection, among them there are medals of the highest value.
By the way, at the recent annual international 15th color photo contest, where about four thousand photographs from 78 countries of the world were exhibited, my only work was among the 35 marked ones.
And just yesterday, the news came that the “Students” picture was evaluated at the Grand Eurasia 2022 competition (Russia), at the 18th China International Photography Art Exhibition (CIPAE, China), as well as at the fifth International Photo Contest “People of the World 2022 ” (Serbia).
- Our site is visited by a large number of young people, including those involved in photography. What would you advise them to reach your heights in photography?
- If someone just picked up a camera and starts taking pictures, you need to know that photography is, first of all, passion and dedication. As in any other profession, if you are not in love with your business, then it is better to look for your own, close to you business.
And for beginners, “sick” with photography, such a wish - always strive to take pictures for yourself. Learn to listen to criticism and take advice from others. Feel free to do your thing. If there is a feeling that you need to redo the work even after it seemed to you that it was ready, shoot again. As they say in such cases, patience and work will grind everything. You should not copy someone, but you need to constantly learn.
- A little about yourself and your creative plans?
- I have been working as a photojournalist for the Turkmen news agency TDH for almost thirty years. I cooperate with many publications, including the magazine "Turkmenistan", the electronic newspaper "Turkmenistan RU". I am a member of the creative union "Photoart".
In 2014, FIAP, UNESCO (International Federation of Photography) published a list of nine photographers awarded the EFIAP honorary title. Among them was my name.
In recent years, I have been devoting a lot of time to young photographers. Now we are preparing together for the third international photo contest "Ferula-2022". As a result, we will organize a photo exhibition, in which the authors from the Ashgabat photo club "Ferula" - Mekan Abdulaev, Muhammed Amanmamedov Svetlana Krupskaya, Sergey Mirzoev, Aahmed Tanrykuliev, Alina Tolstikhina, Akhmed Khallyev, Begench Shikhliev, who previously won seven medals and four ribbons of honor from FIAP and PSA. This team of young photographers recently debuted at the FIAP World Competition among 232 photography clubs. As a result, the guys got into the first hundred participants. Not a bad achievement for beginners.
As for personal prospects, I try in every possible way to visit amazing corners again
As for personal prospects, I do my best to visit the amazing corners of Turkmenistan again. I want to track and commit changes. Only in a constant search can one catch the very frame that brings true pleasure to the artist.
