The Armenian sun is quite unforgiving at the moment. A dry, dusty landscape around Yerevan that leads to a strong sunlight during the day, a heat that you feel drying up the skin with every minute you're outside. People walk with umbrellas, or linger within the moving shapes of shade throughout the day. Everyone wants to escape the sun in one way or another, while still enjoying that atmosphere of summer. I haven't been out that much due to the dangers of the sun, much of my time outside is spent underneath it, walking between buildings and streets with very little protection from the intense UV, a mixture of strong sun from summer and the more elevated environment. There are parts of the day where it cools down, a breeze appears, and the descending sun over the mountains causes strong winds. Kicking up the dust and sheets of metal over the old Soviet era buildings.
Most don't seem to care much. I struggle to walk in it, with so much dust getting thrown into my eyes. Kids continue to ride their bikes through the streets, playing outside of the old buildings of varying designs, some more ambitious than others from the Soviet era. Old men in their vests lean over their balconies and smoke a cigarette as they overlook the life below. A common sight that I want to photograph a bit more without getting too intrusive with the camera. But there's so much composition and story to be found in such areas, and I love it. Especially as I begin the process of throwing together a Yerevan themed book over the changing landscape of the city. The old and the new. The life within the many streets that is often unknown. Few foreigners such as myself lurk through them with a camera, capturing the life.
When the weather changes like this, it's like the streets quickly empty up. Less people walking around, less cars driving. Even the stray dogs and cats run off to find shelter. It's mostly just me walking through them, searching for something unique to capture. When the sun is out, men and women sit outside in the little gardens, playing card games or Nardi. Something else I want to begin capturing. Scenes of culture and life are some of the best to capture. Though I also love these weirder sides of photography pertaining to the chaotic. The architectural and the mechanical. The mixture between natural world and the concrete and technological. I find this interesting when it connects within the living space, especially with historical ideologies. You get a strange feeling walking around it. This feeling of being within a place that was once way more advanced, more glorious.
I love shooting these things lately, and it's something I want to continue exploring. Though I need to buy some ND filters given how strong the light usually is. Higher shutter speeds and apertures are needed to capture much of anything during the day. Also a wider focal length for some of those combinations between culture and architecture. Currently running a 35mm F1.8 lens with a blue mist filter on it that handles natural and artificial light in a really beautiful way. Putting the 85mm and the Helios 44-2 aside for the time being.