Irina Grigoryan is one of the many young, self-taught women photographers to have emerged in recent years in Armenia. Unlike the majority of her female compatriots, Grigoryan works exclusively in the category of experimental and art photography. After studying graphic arts at the Yerevan State Academy of Fine Arts, Grigoryan has increasingly turned her attention to photography. She is also one of the very few young practitioners to explore analogue photographic and printing techniques, working in a makeshift darkroom. Grigoryan’s themes often revolve around the notion of female subjectivity, emotional landscape and memory. In 2011 Irina was the recepient of Lusadaran Foundation’s second prize for the series ‘Gortsaranayin’ 2010 which was included in the exhibition ‘Industrial Symphony: photography and the post-industrial age’.

Profile photograph by Ella Kanagerian, 2011