Movses Haneshyan, 105, is reunited with an image of his home in Turkey. It’s the first time Movses is seeing his home in 98 years.
Once the capital of an ancient Armenian Kingdom, Ani, was known as the "city of 1,001 churches." After the genocide, Turkey cut Armenia from its history, with no mention of who built or inhabited it. Today, the city remains abandoned, apart from the occasional presence of Turkish border guards.
Mariam Sahakyan, 101, was born in Sason, Turkey, which was a major site of massacres. . She escaped to Syria with her mother and older brother, whom they dressed as a girl for safety.
Yepraksia Gevorgyan, now 110, escaped by crossing the river to what is now present-day Armenia. She watched the Ottomans kill the Armenians, throwing their bodies into the water, which she described as "red, full of blood."
Support the Survivors
A century ago, when they were children, Yepraksia Gevorgyan, Movses Haneshyan and Mariam Sahakyan fled present-day Turkey to escape the Armenian genocide.
For the centenary of the genocide, which claimed more than one million lives, I traveled to Armenia to meet these survivors and to ask them about their last memories of their native land and the family members they lost. I then retraced their steps in Turkey to retrieve for each of them a piece of their lost homeland, and in some way reunite them with these places. I attempted to tell their personal histories with my project ‘1915,’ which was featured in July’s issue of Smithsonian Magazine.
To allow Yepraksia, Movses and Mariam to live out their final years with more than basic necessities, I am launching a fundraiser in partnership with Genesis Imaging, a London photo lab. Our aim is to raise $10,000 for each of these three survivors, a total of $30,000, by selling ten limited-edition prints of each of the images above. Once these prints are sold, the fundraiser will be finished.
All proceeds from these sales will go directly to Yepraksia, Movses and Mariam to supplement the efforts of their hard-working families.
Print Details
Collection 2015
Each print is from an edition of 10
Giclée fine art print on archival Hahnemühle paper in a pearl finish
To purchase a print, contact dianamarkosian@gmail.com with your print selection. Then click 'Support' to finalize your payment.