human-unfriendly Yerevan Photo

Photographer's Note

no matter that there was sunset at the moment of taking this photo, whole atmosphere was a bit pessimistic, gloomy and sad. Tower blocks like these are scattered all around Yerevan, I can't play with statistics but certainly there are a lot of them. However shiny they look under summer sunset rays, general feel of being unfinished, chaotic bare buildings isn't leaving me. that's why I desaturated most of this photo, these structures are just gloomy in my eyes. Somehow not human-friendly.

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jimmj63 (0) 2007-11-20 4:37

near Varna (Bulgaria), there were some of that without roads and sidewalks, gardens and shops.
I like Trekearth because show not only the amazing places but the sad places too.
ciao, giacomo

nunenik (135) 2007-11-20 12:44

Dear Marko,
It's a good photo showing the atmosphere of urban Yerevan (yes there are many of these square buildings that don't look very charming in anyone's eyes), but to call it human-unfriendly... come on!
I myself have lived in a building almost identical to these, and I still do whenever I'm in Yerevan, and I've never ever thought of it as unfriendly or gloomy. The buildings don't have much charm because they date back to the Soviet times when beauty wasn't the issue but the quick relocations and making space for people to live in.
Perhaps the gloomy effect you got is because of the fact that the appartments all look different from outside, as every household is allowed to renovate as they wish and the city council doesn't require a homogeneity for the buildings. But people actually live in these buildings, so to categorize them as ruins...
And because they're all made from an identical type of stone (the tuf), I personally think these buildings are what give Yerevan part of its charm and certainly the rose colour.

Sorry for the long comment, but I'm really disappointed that you think of my city (and buildings still happily inhabited by people) as ruins. Especially that you say yourself you desaturated the colours of the photo to make it more gloomy!

Nun�