The Panjulakyan family, Yerevan, 1901

The photograph shows the Panjulakyan family in Yerevan in 1901. They were representatives of the old Yerevan intelligentsia and urban culture.

Five people pose before a painted studio backdrop. A young woman in a white dress and a woman in a headscarf are seated; behind them stand a bearded man in a European suit and a young man in a chokha with cartridge holders and a dagger, while another bearded man reclines on the floor in front. Their clothing combines European and traditional Caucasian styles.

At that time Yerevan was a small but rapidly growing city where a new Armenian elite was taking shape.