Publications

Yearning for the Sea JC Tordai (photographs) Garo Keheyan (text) Price €30.00 ISBN 9963 621 51 1 Pages 87 Binding softbound with matt lamination Illustration 59 colour plates Dimensions 125x270mm
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Yearning for the Sea, published on 8 January 2001, is a photographic record of the tumultuous years of the Armenian Republic following the collapse of Soviet rule in 1991.

The photographs taken by JC Tordai, a renowned photographer with Panos Pictures, depict a country fallen on hard times – a post-communist world of collapse and chaos. These vivid and thought-provoking photos show ordinary people going about their daily lives, in the most extraordinary and adverse circumstances.  The images reflect the ‘heroism’ of every day life defined by deprivation and struggle, but also by nobility, resilience and faith. 

In the accompanying text Garo Keheyan’s sensitive narrative captures the sorrows (and the joys) of a beleaguered country.  His poignant account of the struggles, the war, the blockade, the cold and the hunger, the shortages and the grief, mirror the people depicted in Tordai’s photographs. However, one can also detect in these vibrant images and poignant words the magical energy of Armenia, its noble people, and a celebration of the human spirit overcoming adversity.