The facts regarding M. E. Antonyan’s life and work are scant. His studio was located on 32 Lenin Street in Tbilisi. It worked during the 1930s and nearly all of Antonyan's photographs located by us come from that decade. Regardless of the social status of his clients, the photographer tried to present everyone with sensitivity and dignified poise. Evenly lit and with carefully balanced compositions, these portraits are technically masterful. In particular, those that represent women and their children are distinguished by their soft aesthetic charms which has certain parallels with the earlier works by Tiflis-based Armenian photographer H. Mirakyan.

Vigen Galstyan, 2016