HAIK KOCHARIAN, PHOTOGRAPHER
John Del Signore

Gothamist.com
May 12 2010

The non-profit African Services Committee, based in Harlem, provides
a variety of assistance to immigrants and refugees who arrive in
NYC from countries throughout Africa. It was founded by Ethiopian
refugees in 1981, and the organization also works in three clinics
in Ethiopia providing HIV prevention, testing and care to some of the
poorest people on Earth. The country has an estimated 2 million people
living with HIV and the third highest number of infections in Africa.

Several months ago, photographer Haik Kocharian traveled to Ethiopia
on behalf of the African Services Committee to document life in the
open-air clinics. After spending three weeks visiting the clinics and
exploring the surrounding areas, he returned with a colorful series of
photographs that, despite their gravitas, somehow communicate a spirit
of optimistic resilience. On Monday May 17th, some of Kocharian’s work
will be displayed at a solo exhibition at the James Cohan Gallery (533
West 26th St); the opening reception is a benefit for the African
Services Committee, and all proceeds from photography sales will
benefit their Pediatric HIV program. Tickets can be purchased here.

How did this project come about? It’s actually a very interesting
story. I wanted to go to Ethiopia even before this project because
I’m from Armenia originally, and I always found a strange similarity
between Ethiopia and Armenia. Both countries are landlocked, both
countries practice a specific Orthodox line of Christianity, they
have a similar alphabet and both are ancient nations. And since I’ve
recently had this sense of longing about going back home, I thought
Ethiopia could be an interesting way to begin this journey back. A
friend of mine who works at James Cohan Gallery and also collaborated
with me on this project, Laurie Harrison, introduced me to African
Services Committee.

This is one of the clients of African Services Committee. I did a
series of images when I visited peoples homes, because I wanted to see
people in their environment. Lovely lady. I took several photographs
of her, and then she showed me several images from her past, where
we could see her young, her husband, her child, and I thought it was
very interesting to see the contrast that life has brought, since
obviously some of these women have suffered and been abused. I was
very touched that she gave me the opportunity to take this picture.

What is that? African Services Committee is a non-profit organization
that provides free treatment for HIV and AIDS patients in Ethiopia as
well as in NY, but this particular show is focused on their branch
in Ethiopia. This is a non-profit, non-political organization that
provides 100% free services for its clients. To date, I believe,
they’ve already taken care of about 25,000 patients. AIDS/HIV is a
humongous epidemic in Ethiopia, and I believe there are up to 92,000
infected children today, so you can imagine the scope of this issue.

We met, we spoke, and we realized this could be a worthwhile project
to put together as a solo exhibition showing the lives of the women
and children who benefit from their services.

Had that been done before? Well, I’m sure there have been many
charitable exhibitions in the past, but what I believe makes this one
quite unique is that the organization itself is a very grassroots
operation. Their three clinics are located in actual markets, they
have people with food going into communities educating people, and
I was lucky enough to have that sort of access to people and their
lives. Shows like this have probably been done before, but for me
this is an unprecedented and unique opportunity, to open a window
into the lives of these people, their struggles, difficulties,
challenges and triumphs. Ultimately it is very important to me for
people to come out of this with a sense of optimism, a sense of hope,
because that’s our goal.

Did you have a sense of optimism when you left Ethiopia after spending
three weeks there? I actually did. When I went there, I didn’t know
what to expect. I knew it was going to be difficult. I knew I’d see
struggle and human suffering, which I did. There is suffering, there
is struggling, there is a lot of pain. It is indeed difficult to see a
15-year-old or 12-year-old child infected with HIV or AIDS. However,
after meeting these women and children and families, getting to know
them, getting to know their lives, I was amazed by their integrity,
dignity and strength, optimism, and outlook for the future. These
children are for the most part optimistic, despite living in horrific
living conditions, incredible poverty. The children are well taken care
of, they’re happy, they’re smiling. They’re happy and they’re running
around, going to school. I came back from this trip much stronger,
much happier than when I went there. I learned a lot myself.

So optimism indeed.

Did you ever feel unsafe when you were there? I never felt unsafe.

These were incredibly welcoming people. I was very well treated, I
was hosted there by members of African Services Committee. I’ve seen
nothing but warmth, hospitality, wonderful nation, wonderful country,
beautiful country, I highly recommend for anyone to visit. Untouched
nature. I was very well taken care of.

Were you actually staying in the camps? I didn’t stay there full
time, but I visited frequently… they’re not so much camps; they’re
more like communities. And I certainly got to know them personally; I
visited them in their homes, I spent time with them because I believe
that it was very important to really get to the know the people,
really understand them, understand their lives, on a day-to-day basis.

To get good photography, and to show the audience in NY the true
state of their lives.

So this show is one-night-only, why is that, and what is the goal of
this? One hundred percent of proceeds from both artwork sales and
tickets are going directly to the HIV and AIDS prevention program
in Ethiopia. This is not a major bureaucratic organization, this is
a grassroots organization, and has a very effective leadership. So
I will definitely encourage people to get involved. The benefit
event exhibition is one-night show, but we are already envisioning a
traveling show. We very much hope we can have different exhibitions
in different venues where we can raise awareness and raise money to
support this unquestionably worthy cause.

So what’s next for you? What are you working on? I work in photography
and film, and we are in the late development of my new feature-length
film, called Forest with Parking. At this point, we have a very
prestigious cast that I’m very happy with, and we have several
potential investors who are interested in the film. We’re hoping to
finish shooting later this year, early fall.

It’s a psychological drama about a young struggling poet who feels
trapped with his relationship with his six-month pregnant girlfriend.

He feels trapped in the city of New York. He feels trapped in his
relationship with his father-in-law who’s pressuring him to change his
life and his beliefs. Ultimately he feels trapped within himself. A
random, accidental encounter with death puts him over the edge, and
he escapes the reality of his life, but as we all know, there’s no
escape, and we all must pay the price. That’s the premise.

View photos at
photographer_1.php?gallery0Pic=2