Born in Sochi, shared throughout the CIS - the story of a photograph that went viral
The Personal Photographer of the Armenian president Davit Hakobyan didn’t expect the photo he shot earlier on Wednesday will be shared widely online and disseminated by media outlets of the CIS countries.
Armenian users of social media mostly shared the photo of President Serzh Sargsyan with his Azerbaijani counterpart Ilham Aliyev.
“During different events, whenever the two presidents appear near each other, I keep on catching every moment, their looks, gestures - everything. As the saying goes, I keep a finger on the pulse. During this latest event, I was staying aside waiting for a good capture. Nothing happened. I then went to shoot at the front. I noticed Aliyev [president of Azerbaijan] was keeping an eye on Sargsyan and captured without hesitation,” the author of the photographer said.
To note, the photo was taken during the session of the CIS Council of Heads of State in a narrow format held in Sochi on Wednesday.
“Dozens of photographers and reporters were waiting for the presidents to appear,” Hakobyan went on, telling the story of the second photo. “I was examining the venue and liked the lighting. I just fixed my camera and positioned myself waiting for our president. Nazarbayev appeared to enter the room the first. The power of the photo comes from Nazarbayev’s look, his self-confidence, steps,” Hakobyan said.
He added he had received numerous calls and messages on social media from Kazakh reporters asking to share the photo.
“I really didn’t’ expect such a reaction,” said the personal photographer of the president.