"Reflect Reality and Create a New One" - Interview by Gayane Vasilyan with Suren MANVELYAN

Gayane Vasilyan's article is devoted to an interview with physicist and experimental photographer Suren Manvelyan, author of the internationally known project "Your Beautiful Eyes," which reveals the unique architecture of the iris in humans and animals. The conversation examines the philosophical, aesthetic, and professional foundations of photographic creativity.

Introduction and Methodology

The material is structured as a dialogue in which Gayane Vasilyan consistently poses questions to her interlocutor about the nature of photography as an art form, about his creative origins, and about the interaction of science and art in his work.

Origins and Artistic Tradition

Manvelyan traces his development as a photographer through family tradition (grandfather, uncle) and the artistic environment of his childhood, connected to the studio of Hakob Hakobyan, which was frequented by Minas Avetisyan and other Armenian artists. Separately noted is the influence of Renaissance aesthetics and his subsequent interest in abstract expressionism (Mark Rothko, Nicolas de Staël) as a source of emotional experience.

Key Thesis: Photography Between Reflecting and Creating Reality

The central thesis of the interview is the absence of objective documentary photography. Referring to Richard Avedon and citing examples (the camera angle used in photographing Stalin, the use of light filters in landscape photography), Manvelyan argues that photography simultaneously reflects and creates reality, being a subjective artistic statement.

The Concept of "Ideal Realism"

The author formulates his own understanding of the ideal photograph as the moment of maximum embodiment of an idea in a really existing object—a state he calls "ideal realism." It is emphasized that the photographer's task is to capture the culminating moment, whether it be a butterfly's emergence, a sunset, or a person's inner state.

Science and Art: Physics as a Tool of Creativity

A separate section is devoted to the professional synthesis of physics and photography. Manvelyan highlights:

• knowledge of the technical side of shooting (for example, the Bouguer–Lambert–Beer law);
• analytical thinking cultivated by science;
• the necessity of combining technical mastery with artistic taste, which the author considers the most difficult pedagogical and creative challenge.

Photography in the Age of Digital Oversaturation

The problem of the devaluation of art amid internet culture and the pursuit of the "wow" effect is discussed. Manvelyan contrasts momentary spectacle with genuine art capable of provoking reflection, citing as an example the unexpected success of his project on the iris of the eye.

Portrait and Emotion

The method of working with a person is revealed: the necessity of inner acceptance and "love" for the subject as a condition for achieving genuine expressiveness in a portrait, in contrast to nature photography, which requires only attentiveness and openness of perception.

Conclusion

The key conclusion of the interview lies in understanding photography as an existential path to self-knowledge through the lens: in Manvelyan's view, authentic creativity—whether portrait, landscape, or scientific-artistic experiment—is a form of searching for the author's unique personal identity, rather than an end in itself of merely recording reality.