YEREVAN, FEBRUARY 17, ARMENPRESS. Photographer and photojournalist German Avagyan has passed away aged 57, Minister of Education, Science, Culture and Sport Arayik Harutyunyan said on social media.

“If you were seeing his shadow, then history was being written or photographed there. I was just informed about the sudden death of German Avagyan, the photographer of our state’s history. I am very sorry,” Harutyunyan said.

The cause of death wasn’t immediately clear.

Avagyan’s career in photography began from his mid 20s. He was a photojournalist with several publications in Armenia, and his early work is noticeably experimental and boldly expressionist. By the mid 90s he was more focused on reportage. Avagyan began documenting the harsh social conditions, poverty, victims of war, prisoners and homeless – bringing to light social problems.

Edited and translated by Stepan Kocharyan