2021 Photo Contest, Contemporary Issues, 3rd Prize

Resting Soldier

Photographer

Vaghinak Ghazaryan

31 October, 2020

A soldier lies in a trench, resting on a plastic cover, in the northeastern part of Syunik, Nerkin Khndzoresk, Armenia.

The Second Nagorno-Karabakh War began on 27 September, and conflict continued until 9 November. It was the worst fighting between ethnic Armenian forces and Azerbaijan over the disputed territory since the First Nagorno-Karabakh War in the 1990s. The first war ended in an uneasy ceasefire, with ethnic Armenian forces gaining control over a further seven territories adjacent to Nagorno-Karabakh, and proclaiming a de facto independent state, Artsakh. The two sides maintained a tense coexistence, with periodic military clashes which escalated into war in 2020. In a settlement brokered by Russia in November, the parties agreed to cease hostilities. Azerbaijan regained possession of parts of Nagorno-Karabakh and the adjacent territories of Lachin, Kelbajar and Agdam, but the regional capital, Stepanakert, along with certain other territories, were left under ethnic Armenian control. A corridor, patrolled by Russian peacekeepers, will connect Armenia to Stepanakert.

About the photographer

Vaghinak Ghazaryan

Vaghinak Ghazaryan (1974) is an Armenian freelance photographer based in Yerevan. He graduated from the department of film and photography at the Academy of TV and Radio, Yere...

Technical information

Shutter Speed
1/2235
ISO
100

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