Last year Armenia celebrated 13 years of independence from the
Soviet Union - but the years haven’t been kind to the country that was first
in the world to adopt Christianity. Its recent history has been bloody.
Genocide by Turks in 1915, annexed by the Soviet Union in 1922; a major
earthquake in the 1980’s was followed by war with Azerbaijan over the
enclave Nagorno Karabagh, which displaced over a million people.
Then, independence from Russia removed some of the last strands of support for
a health service lacking in drugs, training and often rudimentary equipment.

Paul Mellor’s beautifully crafted images show life in an honest yet compassionate
way. The pride and integrity of the people is an integral part of these sensitive yet
artistically bold images that both inform and stimulate the viewer.