HAVERHILL WRITER’S PHOTOS PAINT VIVID PICTURE OF ARMENIAN COUNTRYSIDE
By Rosemary Ford, [email protected]
Eagle Tribune
Jan 22 2009
MA
He honed his skills as a news reporter and photographer.
Now Haverhill’s Tom Vartabedian has put that sharpness to good use:
on his travels. Northern Essex Community College will present a
photographic exhibit of his works titled "Armenian Village People —
A Country Kaleidoscope."
The show features 30 color photographs from the former Haverhill
Gazette staffer and current columnist (the Gazette is now a sister
paper to The Eagle-Tribune).
Vartabedian captured these 10-by-13 inch images during a trip to
Armenia in 2006. He paid particularly close attention to life in the
outlying regions of this country from which his parents fled during
the 1915 Armenian Genocide.
"I love people," Vartabedian said. "I think the real story of a country
can be shown through the images of its people. The faces tell a story
more than the churches and the statues and that sort of thing.
The exhibit has already received tremendous exposure inside the
Armenian community throughout greater Boston. It was shown at the
Armenian Library and Museum of America in Watertown last year, as
part of a fundraiser for the library and the Armenian Relief Society.
"It’s also been at other, different Armenian venues," Vartabedian
said. "I haven’t really exposed it to the non-Armenian community."
After its run at Northern Essex Community College, the exhibit moves
to North Andover’s Merrimack College in March and the Haverhill Public
Library in April.
Vartabedian is dedicating the project to his mother, Jennie. The
97-year-old is the last survivor of the 1915 Armenian Genocide living
in Haverhill.
"She is carrying a torch," Vartabedian said.
In addition to the exhibit, Vartabedian is also working on publishing
a coffee table book of his photographs.
"That is my ultimate dream, as a legacy to my mother, myself and my
country," he said.
Vartabedian spent 40 years as a writer and photographer for the
Haverhill Gazette before retiring in 2007 with numerous awards from
United Press International, the Associated Press, and the New England
Press Association. His columns on local figures and events continue
to be featured weekly.
He remains active as a judge and speaker at camera clubs along the
North Shore as a master member of the New England Camera Club Council.
Vartabedian said he’s already planning another trip to Armenia
this spring.
IF YOU GO
What: "Armenian Village People — A Country Kaleidoscope"
When: Throughout the month of February
Where: Art Space Gallery of the Bentley Library at Northern Essex
Community College
How: Gallery hours are Monday through Friday, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., and
Saturday, 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. A public reception is planned on Thursday,
Feb. 12, from 5 to 8 p.m.