Late To The Party: Yesterday's Wednesday Walk

The weather's a bit odd in Yerevan at the moment. Days of intense sunlight punches into the light brown stone walls of its dated buildings, bouncing off a more golden tone into the streets. The colours are beautiful as all the trees are appearing in the city, both existing ones blossoming, and a sudden revival of the city's green look with the planting of new ones. The city has taken a dramatic shift almost overnight. Tourism is definitely skyrocketing out of nowhere, and a lot of construction seems to have been given the green light, with a lot of places around the city now getting a bit of a cleanup. Life here seems to have turned to eleven. The momentum only increasing, and then, the rain begins again. The golden streets are now a gloomy brown with the light from above being diffused by the clouds. The streets still more busy than usual, but more people wearing thicker clothing. A bit more tired, less energy in their movements and faces. I felt this too today, and yesterday. The fatigue slightly setting in as the warmth went away and was replaced with the cold droplets of rain on the shoulder.

I find it harder to shoot things on these sorts of days. Where the colour is gone, and the mood is generally just less inviting. I have a new lens with me now, though, and I feel the motivation to roam the streets and capture them in a new way, with a new focal length. The 85mm F1.8 lens that gives such beautiful depth between subject and background. Perfect for streets with so much going on, where finding a particular subject and disconnecting it from the busy lifestyle is something that can produce beautiful results. The streets now feel a little more interesting, a bit different. Knowing I can capture them in greater detail, from afar. Noticing moments of life throughout my daily walks that I couldn't otherwise capture with the more cinematic 35mm focal length. I love the 35mm, but the differences between the two are so large, and mixing up focal lengths is something so exciting as a photographer.

With the change in weather, some of the most vibrant colours come out as the sun is starting to set, as the darkness pulls out the artificial light and the colours they hold. This also spans into the cars, the many police cars which sit in the streets, spilling tones of blue and red into the them, highlighting the faces of those who pass through. I notice these details all the time, the way light interacts with the passing by of the city's inhabitants. The boredom of a simple advertisement that blasts insecurities into its population suddenly creates beauty on those below, illuminating life in a different manner, so much potential. Yerevan is full of such light, it's a city so old, but is riddled with light. Thriving on the cyberpunk aesthetic mixed with old Soviet decay. It's a fascinating landscape. So fun to walk through and discover the contrast of dated streets and new ideas. The mixture of history and futurism. The elements of culture that are still displayed with it.

I walked for hours, watching the sun go down and turn to darkness. The way the city only then in the start of night felt like it was alive, as if those night colours pulled out the energy of the people, that or perhaps the result of alcohol having just left the various taverns and bars that fed them. The aforementioned tourism and previous warmth being a reason as to why so much of the city now has outdoor eating areas, a great sight that makes a city feel more connected; the cars being the main problem, walking through Yerevan, the vast majority of noise comes from its cars that get stuck in traffic, booming music, honking horns endlessly in fury. I long for their removal.

The glowing of light adds warmth to the environment, that feeling of the sporadic drops of rain that can chill is replaced with the invitations of those various bars, cafes, and restaurants. I walked through the crowds of people, trying to avoid taking photographs that may contain them, not finding them of much interest. Instead almost searching for a homely aesthetic within a place that may call me in sometime. Constantly in search of new places to visit and check out as I go through these daily walks. Sometimes I stop by a place and check it out, grabbing a coffee or lunch from time-to-time. Though this is often a bit of a challenge, as cafes are often expensive while the coffee quality just isn't that good, either too cold despite asking for it to be made extra hot, or just not that nice.

It surprises me that I rarely get bored of such walks. Down the same streets. Hours spent and going by. Days passing like they're minutes at a time. But I long to continue those roads, down new and familiar streets, finding new stories and moments to capture within them.

To end today's late post for Wednesday, I wanted to share how some of those colours from the nature are impacting Yerevan. I have no idea what type of tree this is, but they're blossoming all over the city now. Some faster than others. But they throw out such beautiful, pinkish tones. I've never seen anything quite like it in a city before, but it's nice to see such colours returning to the city that's otherwise quite dark. Especially when one of the largest complaints people have of the city is that there are not enough trees anymore; something that was for some reason lost in after the Soviet era. Fortunately returning, even in the few parks the city has. So much more colour, the floral smell hitting you from all directions at this point. It's a beautiful sight, and beats the again annoying smell of car fuel and industrialism from the construction going on.

It makes me pretty excited to see how much more the city develops going into summer. How beautiful the sights will be. The potential it holds for more daily walks, photography, and even videography.