Armenia: spotlight.am exhibit seeks to shed light on problems in provinces

PanARMENIAN.Net - The U.S. embassy in Armenia on Thursday, May 11 hosted the opening of an exhibition titled spotlight.am, organized under the auspices of ambassador Richard M. Mills. The exhibit features the best photos taken by residents to raise issues of concern across Armenia’s various provinces and published on spotlight.am - a platform created several months ago.

Spotlight.am is a citizen photojournalism platform, which enables provincial residents to raise a broad spectrum of issues through photography, as well as contribute to a bigger awareness about their community. In the course of two months, more than 700 photos were published on the platform.

The opening showcased 10 photo stories, which also featured captions provided by the authors themselves. Each of the stories tackled the challenges facing one of Armenia’s 10 provinces.

After touring the exhibition, ambassador Mills said in his speech he is pleased that the embassy has been involved in the initiative.

The project was implemented by PAN, with grant provided by the U.S. State Department’s Bureau of Public Affairs.

“At first sight, photos seem quite depressing. But the encouraging part is that the authors spared no effort and managed to find and show such stories, so that we can learn more about these issues,” the ambassador said.

Dwelling upon photojournalism, Mills stressed the importance of photography in today's world and encouraged people to capture the environment and events going on at that exact moment.

Anyone can register on spotlight.am. No professional cameras are needed, the most ordinary smartphone cameras will do.