Despite his youth, David Galstyan has already achieved a reputation as a distinctive voice among emerging Armenian photographers. His highly personal brand of photography, which combines elements of dance, painting and cinema, fits uneasily within contemporary photographic practice in Armenia.

Trained as an actor at the State Theater Institute in Yerevan, his work embraces the medium’s propensity towards performative expression. As such, he stands apart from both the documentary and conceptual tendencies prevalent in Armenian photography, exploring instead some of the modernist traditions more in line with his formalist approach.

A key feature in his work is the investigation of the relationship between the human body and architecture. Much like the Czech neo-expressionist Jan Saudek, Galstyan draws attention to the metaphysical qualities of the environments, studded with ethereal-looking figures. These are visions which remain outside place or time. Through strategic use of digital manipulation, the body itself is seen as an unstable structure on the verge of dissipation, effortlessly rendering the inherent fragility of the human condition.

Galstyan shares his practice between personal and commercial projects. Much in demand as a fashion photographer, he brings the same hypnotic aesthetic to his subjects, regardless of the nature of the assignment.

Vigen Galstyan, 2016