Almost nothing is known about the biography of the provincial photographer Peshtmaljyants who worked in Yerevan at the turn of the twentieth century. Peshtmaljyants made photographs in a number of genres. Aside from portraits made in his photography studio, he also documented various corners of Yerevan, which are of great historical value today. The photographer also took photographs of famous architectural monuments in the Ararat valley, including the ruins of Garni temple and the Ejmiatsin Cathedral. At the time, he was one of only a handful of local practitioners who produced commercially distributed architectural photographs.

Having only humble creative aspirations, Peshtmaljyants managed to document a number of important historic figures throughout the years of his practice, including the young Komitas and the generals of Yerevan’s Russian military battalion. These portraits made with notable skill and great care, which is especially evident in the case of Peshtmaljyants’ group portraits.

Vigen Galstyan, 2016