Right exposure, creativity and love for what you’re doing—that’s all it takes to have a good shot. Photography is about seeing the beauty through the mayhem that surrounds us. And the photographers teach us to look again, to look longer and harder. But when you combine photography with humor and writing, you obtain a new and unique storytelling path.
Ani Jilavyan, an EC alumna, is one of those people who show us how to do that in the most authentic way possible. Ani has always been interested in writing. “I used to write acrostic poems and tell stories to my siblings when I was younger,” Ani recalled. “Although I would rhyme “eghbayrik” with “eghbayrik,” my family members always assured me that I was really good at writing poems,” laughed Ani.
Her enthusiasm for writing grew as her friend introduced her to Manana Youth Educational Cultural Center when she was 15. Although her initial desire was to write and study journalism at Manana, she also began her first steps in the world of photography.
By then, Ani did not know Manana also had photography classes. She didn’t have any idea that she would be interested in photography at all. But her curiosity and courage to take new paths in life inspired her to try herself in this field as well.
Her trip to Italy with her grandmother and the pictures she ended up making there, was what made her instructor, Lilit Karapetyan, see her unique sense of making interesting photographs and her potential to do photography professionally. This made Ani’s parents buy her a professional camera, which inspired her to take more photos and upload them on various photography websites.
Apart from her instructor, Ani used internet materials and resources to help her learn more photography tips and tricks. Ani had the desire to do something fun and useful at AUA, so she decided to open up a photography club.
Some of her newly made friends were also interested in joining the club. “We would get together in the library rooms and discuss the logo and name of the club,” Ani recalled. They named the club Megapixel. When they started the call for club members, Ani and her friends were forever grateful for the one and only person who signed up for the club. Soon enough, more and more people joined the club after introducing themselves officially during the club fair.
Ani recalled her experience with the Megapixel club with warm and funny memories. Her courage to start a club at AUA from scratch and combine that with her classes, indeed, did not stop there. She was in the third year of her studies when she decided to open up the Club of Cheerful and Quick-witted (KVN), which originally comes from Russia. “It was ironic that we were Armenians from the American University of Armenia doing a Russian show,” Ani laughed.
She recalled her experience at KVN as a time when they had the chance to work with famous comedians from Armenia and Russia. Ani was most grateful for the emotions she experienced on the stage. “I would definitely agree to go through the same pain and struggle just to experience the same emotional rollercoaster I experienced back then,” she admitted. In a short period of time, the KVN club managed to participate in a couple of competitions and received good feedback from the audience.
Ani’s search for creative expressions did not stop expanding. She got interested in translation, especially in the last years of her studies. Her capstone was a mix of self-translation and creative fiction, integrating some comedy.
As Ani graduated, she did not cease to look for new things she enjoyed doing to keep herself busy. She got a Graduate Certificate in Translation (CTRA). This opened up a greater interest for her to keep on translating. She is planning on translating one of Steve Martin’s books about comedy.
“The most beautiful thing in all the creative work I am doing is how different and unique the self-expression is for each individual,” remarked Ani enthusiastically.
For Ani, any expression of creativity is subjective, and it is the subjectivity that gives her the freedom to showcase her individuality through photography, comedy, writing and translation. Ani’s courage to step into the unknown and try her in the different worlds of self-expression is what makes one wonder how far human’s creativity can go.
