Grigor Babalov’s photo-atelier ‘Luys’ (Light in Armenian) was one of the preeminent studios in Tiflis at the turn of the twentieth century. It operated for close to two decades on Mikhaylovska street and had two branches in the cities Shusha and Helendorf. Babalov’s establishment serviced Tiflis’ upper-middle classes and the intelligentsia, which he himself was a part of. Numerous distinguished representatives of Armenian culture as well as members of the Russian royalty as well as the Persian Shah, had their photographs taken by him. According to the information notes on his studio seals, Babalov received 'court photographer' titles from Czar Nikokay II and the Emir of Bukhara. The photographer's daughter, is the noted singer and musicologist Arus Babalyan, who'd later marry composer Romanos Melikyan.

Babalov’s practice is one of the more interesting pages in the annals of Tiflisian-Armenian photography. Outside of his work on standard, commercial-type portraiture, the photographer paid special attention to the characters who carried social, political or cultural significance. In such instances, Babalov clearly attempted to relay the individuality of the sitters by creating ‘psychological’ portraits, which made simple but also dramatic use of the subject’s body, gestures and vivid facial expressions. From this point view, the 1893 voluminous photographic album dedicated to the birthday of the photographer’s daughter – Arus Babalyan – is particularly memorable. With their poetic and lyrical effusions, the photographs contained therein exceed the status of the family archive. Babalov’s daughter explicitly becomes a subject for the photographer’s creative investigations, as well as his willing collaborator. Picturing the transition from childhood to adolescence, this photographic narrative stands out from similar albums created in Armenian centers at the end of the 19th century due its almost literary propensity and emotional immediacy. No less important is the fact that this compendium provides us with an invaluable into the daily lifestyle of cosmopolitan Armenian family from Tiflis.

It should be noted that Babalov loved to photograph outside of his pavilion – on the streets and environs of Tiflis. His street views preserved in various Georgian archives are some of the earliest examples of Caucasian documentary street photography. 

Vigen Galstyan, 2016