The slow shift into autumn

It still feels like autumn is quite a stretch away over in Yerevan. There might be the odd cooler evening or five minutes of rainfall, but the warmth still very much feels present, as do the clear skies. You see people walking around in t-shirts still, few seem to wear anything more than that going during the daylight hours. Leaves have barely even started to fall here, let alone change colour. Yerevan is a weird place for the seasons. Scorching summers and short autumns with a long winter. To experience the true changing of the seasons you need to travel more north or south, to which even there the seasons are slow to shift. Dilijan is still just turning colour, for example.

But there are some signs of change. It is definitely more tolerable to be outside in the evenings. I have wanted to be out more and more as the sun goes down, to which the sun goes down much earlier now. There's definitely a bit less light. Not that I mind that. I kinda like that low light, cosy atmosphere of autumn and winter. The feeling that things are slower, cooler, and people may seem to have less energy, but nothing feels like it's in a rush to do or be somewhere. It's like everyone's general energy decreases a bit and the baseline average of relaxation appears. Perhaps a bit harder to wake up in the mornings, perhaps a bit more of a chore to get out and do things with less energy. But honestly, I've always kind of liked that, even back in England.

Here, streets feel emptier. I mean, even in summer they were but for a different reason: it was too hot to be outside! People only went out in the evenings when it was tolerable, now people sort of just float about at any hour. Unless it's raining, Armenians act like a bit of a rain is poison to them, which is funny to see given their reaction to the heat as well. There isn't really an inbetween here. Parks remain largely empty. Maybe a few older men drinking in them (it's legal to drink in public here). Or a few teenagers hanging out before it gets a bit too late (there's also a culture for not being out that late unless you're an older male). Anyway, I've missed photographing the slow passing of time here. While others feel a bit lower in their energy, I feel like mine is largely returning!



I made these images black and white because the lack of colour and low light in this area made and colour just seem a bit dull. Not something you can save with editing. But I liked that they're more atmospheric without the colour anyway. Also my usual love for the 21 : 9 aspect ratio! Shot on the Sony A6000 and with the 35mm F1.8 lens, so really about a 60mm lens on full frame camera.