I walked through a neighbourhood I hadn't properly explored before today during the last few hours of the natural sunlight. It's an area I didn't have many hopes for as the satellite view from above made it look void of anything particularly interesting: lots of high rise apartment building and no trees. A large amount of schools scattered around. I figured I'd check it out anyway and ended up much surprised by everything. It ended up being a really enjoyable walk through a space that felt incredibly old but also thriving in the art world. I didn't get a whole lot of photographs from the walk, but I plan to return to the area to photograph it better. I went with the Helios 44-2 lens on my camera which has a focal length of around 100mm on the crop sensor, not ideal for enclosed areas!
Walking through the very natural area around the schools, I saw so many little statues and pieces of sculpted art. I didn't feel all that comfortable taking a lot of photographs here as it was quite densely populated still and I honestly had no idea if I was even allowed to be in that area. I walked through appreciating the many walkways and the artistic architecture of how the schools were connected. One room of which even advertised itself as a wine school, so I suppose not all of it pertains to just raising children (unless here they get them on the homemade wine game a bit young). It was a genuinely surprising place though, so full of art, so full of life in both people and the nature around. It was so beautifully kept and that's so rare to find here. Usually such spaces have closed up windows, or smashed ones. Empty areas of the buildings that have been abandoned despite some of the schools being in use. Overgrown and unkept areas of gardens. This had none of that! So tidy, so lively.
Despite being November, the area was full of trees. Scattered around the old courtyards and between buildings. This is rare to see here in Yerevan, a lot of the time the trees are just cut down, neglected and dying off. Not a lot of green, not a lot of shade either. The weather today was quite beautiful in that sense, not hot, but plenty of that beautiful golden light! It was about the time where children are leaving their extra classes. Where adults are carrying large amounts of bread home. And the older population are found playing nardi or arguing about politics at benches. One courtyard had quite a heated argument over a game of cards, with them raising their voices (but still playing) over who had potentially cheated. I wanted to keep exploring the area but knew that the sunlight was going here. The courtyards were starting to turn into darker areas in the shade, where that golden light was no longer reaching the autumn trees in the courtyards around. Despite using the Helios lens, I don't think even the 35mm would've properly captured the atmosphere around here. Perhaps my full frame 28mm camera would be more ideal next time!
This was a really fun walk. It again surprised me where another area felt like it had its charm to it. Feeling so different to the other areas nearby that I have previously walked and explored. It's quite motivating even. Making me want to keep getting out, to buy some more film and photograph the last of the golden light with the film camera before the winter really hits. I love days like these, where they're peaceful and full of little explorations of the world around, seeing how life is lived for others. This was an artistic space full of elements of history, and one of the more interesting spaces I've found in Yerevan.