The hidden treasures of everyday life are carefully recorded by Bedford photographer Astrid Reischwitz, who finds a special kinship to Armenians, The Armenian Weekly reports.
Reischwitz recently spent hours with Stephen Dulgarian, whose Chelmsford home reverberates with Armenian books and artifacts. Dulgarian opened his collection to the photographer, who found it replete with abstract art.
“Being of German ancestry, I can relate very much to the turmoil experienced by Armenians during their 1915 genocide through my own grandparents and ancestors who were in concentration camps,” said Reischwitz. “Armenians have a story to tell through their personal belongings and there is much which can be revealed to the naked eye.”
Objects like books, telephones, old records, and picture frames were carefully exposed through her insight.
“They remind us that all things simultaneously are present in this world yet are at risk of vanishing if we don’t preserve them,” said Reischwitz. “It amazes me that after a genocide, people like Stephen Dulgarian still cling to their past with reverence.”
Reischwitz is close friends with photographer Sona Gevorkian, who helped promote her exhibit on Armenian photography at the Bedford Library last year. Gevorkian happens to be Dulgarian’s daughter, and thus, a connection was made to photograph his archives for this exhibit.
Prominently displayed in the collage are an array of genocide books and a poignant glimpse of a skull by a Bible and cross, symbolizing the Armenian struggle to preserve Christianity.
Born in Germany, Reischwitz graduated from the Technical University Braunschweig with a chemistry degree. Soon after moving to the United States, she followed her passion for photography with courses at the International Center of Photography in New York, focusing on a black and white format.
