Turkmenistan’s “Ferula” club of photo art lovers has become famous relatively recently. In the year of the 30th anniversary of the country’s neutrality, it is turning 10 years old. Initially conceived as a regular club of photography lovers, it has grown over time professionally from the level of a routine participant of the city and republican contests to the international class masters.
The club takes its name from a plant that grows in the sands of the Karakum desert. It is a rare perennial herbaceous plant whose petals collect and store moisture, which is a means of quenching thirst for desert fauna. So, like this desert ferula, the members of the club believe that they strive not only to capture the beauty of nature and the values of our existence but also to share it with those who thirst for and strive to know our world in all its diversity and variety.
Much has been written and said about modern Turkmenistan, a country of neutrality. However, as photographers rightly believe, a vivid, visual illustration is the best complement to any narrative. And indeed, sometimes a successful photo can say more than the most telling, effective word or phrase of a journalist. That is why the work of master photographers who keep an illustrative chronicle of life of modern neutral Turkmenistan is so valuable. Their photographs become the country’s business card in the most remote corners of the world.
“Ferula” currently draws together photo enthusiasts of different ages and professions. Some of them have achieved good results and been awarded various prizes at the most prestigious national and international contests.
Among them, it would be fair to mention Svetlana Krupskaya, an architect by education, who realized that she lacked the skills of photographic vision of objects. That is how she ended up at “Ferula”, and today she actively works in the genre of street photography. Sergey Mirzoev, another graduate of the club, is in love with photography since childhood. He is a repeated winner and prize-winner of various photo contests. Nowadays his photographs are regularly published in magazines of Turkmenistan. Ahmet Tangrykuliev successfully specializes in the so-called production subjects. Alina Tolstikhina, another graduate who has achieved great success in the art of photography. She won in her first photo contest, which took place several years ago in Austria, receiving a gold medal. Akhmed Khallyev, Suleyman Chariev and Begench Shikhliev are also among the club’s successful graduates.
These graduates of “Ferula”, acting as a team, worthily represented Turkmenistan at the 15th FIAP World Cup for Clubs. More than 200 teams representing different countries of the world took part in the tournament. The debutants from Turkmenistan showed excellent results and made the most favorable impression on the organizers of the contest. Later, the team photographs of the club members were exhibited at photo exhibitions in India and Turkey.
Many of the club’s graduates eventually matured to the level of true masters, for whom photography became a profession, including Alexey Gimaletdinov, Meret Rozyev, Hasan Magadov.
However, when talking about “Ferula” club, one cannot help but mention one person who initiated the club and remains a kind of “locomotive”, the soul of the club. His name is well known not only among photo art professionals in Turkmenistan, but also far beyond its borders – Vyacheslav Sarkisyan.
For almost half a century of his professional work, he has participated in dozens of international photo contests and photo salons of FIAP (International Federation of Art Photography of UNESCO) in three dozen countries of the world, from where he brought back a variety of gold, silver and bronze medals. He is particularly proud of his gold medal in the Architecture category of the Austrian Super Circuit, the most popular international photography competition.
The FIAP rating recognises the highest professional skill of a photographer by awarding the title “FIAP Artist”, and the best of the best are awarded the title “FIAP Outstanding Master”. In order to qualify for the highest titles, applicants must pass a certain qualifying selection, regularly exhibiting their photos at international photo salons under the patronage of FIAP in different countries of the world and exhibiting dozens of works at international exhibitions. The requirements are quite strict, and only a few out of thousands of photo artists are awarded the main FIAP awards.
However, the elite team of holders of both highest FIAP titles also features the name of Vyacheslav Sarkisyan. An unconventional, inquisitive look at the surrounding reality, the ability to see something original in the ordinary, mastery of frame composition, and finally, a natural sense of the exclusivity of the moment – all this remains a sign of high skill that not every photographer can boast. It is these qualities that Vyacheslav Sarkisyan instils in his students, passing on his rich experience to them.
It is also worth noting that largely due to his efforts and efforts of many “Ferula” graduates the image of a neutral country is now being created, becoming brighter and closer to many people both in Turkmenistan and beyond.