Bakhshy Khachatryan's first steps in photography are connected with two masters of Armenian photo-journalism, Poghos Petrosyan and Michael Poghosyanwith whom Khachatryan trained in the mid-1960s.(1) His own works first appeared in the Armenian press in 1967in journals and newspapers such as ‘Pioner Kanch’ (Pioneer Call), ‘Garun’ (Spring), Sovetakan Hayastan (Soviet Armenia), ‘Nor-Dar’ (New Age),‘Sovetakan Arvest’(Soviet Art) and others.

Long integrated into the circle of Armenian writers and artists, Khachatryan has created an extensive series of portraits representing cultural figures that are used by local publishersto this day. Also within the scope of the photographer's workis landscape and street photography in which Khachatryanpaid tribute to the ‘poetic’ realistapproach that was widespread in theArmenian artsof the 1960s.

In 1984, Khachatryan joined the Journalists’ Union of Armenia and has worked as a photographer at the Writers' Union of Armenia since 1995.(2)

1) Vanik Santryan, 'Lusankarchutyuny - Arvest' ['Photography as Art', in Armenian], www.hhpress.am, June 12, 2010, http://www.hhpress.am/?sub=hodv&hodv=20100612_7&flag=am

2) Vahan Kochar, Armenian Photographers, Self-published, Yerevan, 2007, p.179

Vigen Galstyan, 2016