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British photojournalist presents the truth about Artsakh

Gita Elibekyan
“Radiolur”
Tbilisi

Although a citizen of a pro-Azerbaijani country, British photojournalist Russell Pollard is committed to truthful presentation of Armenia and Artsakh related issues and the coverage of the Armenian Genocide.

The British journalist’s first visit to Armenia in September 2009 coincided with Independence Day celebrations. “It was a very emotional time,” Pollard told “Radiolur” correspondent in Tbilisi. He remembers taking to people in the Republic Square in Yerevan and taking photos with them.

In 2010 Pollard paid his first visit to Artsakh. He has a number of photos and human stories from the two Armenian states. To make them accessible to public, he created the www.Artsakh.Org.UK website.

“When a website is run by Armenians, people say it’s just Armenian propaganda, if it is run by Azeris, they say it’s Azeri propaganda. I don’t have any connection with anybody. So, hopefully, people would take some credence and belief in what I’ve written. I’m trying to be balanced,” he said.

However, the British photojournalist cannot work in Azerbaijan, as the authorities of that country blacklist all foreigners, who have visited Nagorno Karabakh.

Pollard is learning Armenian. He visited Armenia and Artsakh twice. His website has 5,000 daily visitors, 4,500 people follow it in Facebook.

On 21 May, 2013 a meeting with Russell Pollard took place at the “Hayartun” Cultural Center of the Diocese of the Armenian Apostolic Church in Georgia.

After that the freelance photojournalist told about, how he randomly appeared in the Armenian capital Yerevan, became interested in the country and immersed himself in the study of its history and culture.

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