Working from his Japaridze 7 address in Batumi during the 1920s-30s, A. Shahanyan advertised himself as a ‘photographer-artist’. His photographs, however, are limited to the genres of standard ‘view’ photography and urban documentation. Shahnyan primarily depicted Batumi's diverse vegetation, picturesque sights, monuments and everyday city scenes. Some of these images were published as photo–postcards since the second half of the 1920s.

Today, these photographs have significant historic value when considering the large-scale urban development projects that have completely changed the architectural character of Batumi since the collapse of the USSR. As mentioned on one of his studio backstamps, Shahanyan also worked at the Batumi Regional Bureau for which he made photographs for research and scientific study purposes. No other facts related to the photographer's biography have been found.

Vigen Galstyan, 2016