Eastern Partnership Photography
ries. Good equipment costs good money.
I had students, who took photography as
a hobby and wanted to learn photography techniques. The hourly pay rate was
50-100 manats (around $60–120). Just
imagine how hard it was to tolerate the
whims of those who do not understand
that photography is art, rather than just
carrying the camera around and shooting
away”, the master of photography told me
in confidence.
Sadly, unlike in the former Soviet
countries where they have schools of photography and multimedia, to say nothing
of other foreign countries (for instance,
the NY Photography Institute), we do not
have anything like that in our country.
Those schools teach the fundamentals of photography, the basics of studio
photography and documentary photography, etc. They get support on the level
of the local and regional authorities.
School graduates get official certificates
and have a world of opportunities to pursue.
Alas, all that is left for us to do in
Azerbaijan is just dream. The only institution, around which domestic photographers group together, is the Association
of Photographers of Azerbaijan, which has
financial difficulties and struggles to stay
afloat…
I would not like to end on a sad note,
but this is reality. But still there is hope
that the situation will improve, as photography is the keeper of time. It keeps
the memory of the moments of our life. In
photographs we live forever.
SAY CHEESE,
How and where
you can learn
to make photos
20
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34
Paata Vardanashvili (Georgia)
Guranda Habeishvili (Georgia)