In March 2016 Mediamax presented the story of photo reporter John Stanmeyer and his Yerevan workshop. This year John Stenmayer visited Yerevan again and told Mediamax about his Bridging stories project.

He said he started this project six months ago with Armenian and Turkish colleagues, aiming to bridge hope and peace between the two nations.

Within the Bridging stories project, twelve young photographers for Armenia and another twelve from Turkey give photo stories that reflect similarities between the two cultures.

The stories purposefully avoid pointing the place of shooting so that people see the level of similarity between the countries.

John Stanmeyer noted that sometimes lines are so blurred that it’s difficult to tell where the given photo was taken.

“This is the project not only between Turkey and Armenia, but this is for all of us trying to overcome indifference by bridging stories,” he said.

John Stanmeyer

Photo: Mediamax

John Stanmeyer observed that Armenian people can’t shake off the marks of what happened 100 years ago and “pain is still carried until today”.

“There’s a younger generation on both places that understand the events of one hundred years ago but wants to move forward together. That is why this project engages young photographers, who don’t carry the burden and the pain of the suffering of their grandparents,” the photoreporter said.

You can follow the works within this project on Instagram, at Bridging.stories.

An exhibition on 24 January will display the best photos made for the project.

The origins of the project

Looking back to how he came up with the idea of the project, John Stanmeyer told that everything started with the Armenian Genocide story for National Geographic two years ago.

“When I first came here in 2015 I was trying to understand what genocide means to us today and what it meant to us one hundred years ago and what it means to us collectively going forward,” he said.

According to John Stanmeyer, today more than ever the two communities need to understand that moving forward has clear preconditions, and they should find those by bridging stories and bringing balance.

The American photoreporter thinks that “recognition is the fact that we’re talking about it [the Genocide]”.

“Armenians want Turkish government to recognize the genocide, but it takes time,” Stanmeyer noted.

He believes that the two nations should communicate more actively and form a dialogue, which will lead to restoration of once good relationship in time.

Story behind the best photo made in Armenia

John Stanmeyer’s photo, made in Bagaran village near Armenian-Turkish border, was recognized as one of the best National Geographic photos of 2016.

On that picture villagers sing songs of cultural endurance and memory at the table placed under a big illuminated cross.

Photo: John Stanmeyer

John Stanmeyer introduced the photo with the following caption: “A Century Later, Slaughter Still Haunts Turkey and Armenia”.

“It’s a tragic, really beautiful story,” he told Mediamax.

“Curiously, there is a village of the same name in Turkey. Residents of these two villages have ancestral connection and those in Armenia decided to erect the cross as a symbol of their faith and their belief,” John Stanmeyer said.

On possible visit to Nagorno-Karabakh

“I go anywhere my work calls. I deal with social issues and conflict resolution all around this planet,” he said.

Touching on a possible visit to Nagorno-Karabakh, Stanmeyer said:

“Maybe one day I will go. I go anywhere that I am welcomed.”

He noted he’d love to go to Azerbaijan too. John Stanmeyer thinks that relations between Armenia and Azerbaijan should also be perceived through similarities and balance, and they could “address the issues with a similar project”.

Taguhi Hovhannisyan