BY MICHELLE COCO DER VARTANIAN
A native of Los Angeles, Michelle Coco Der Vartanian is a sophomore at the School of Museum of Fine Arts at Tufts University in Boston. Her concentration is photography and graphic arts and hopes to earn a minor in art history alongside her Bachelor of Arts degree.
“This project is important to me because, although I am Armenian I cannot read or write the language, and I want to contribute something to the Armenian community that I love so much,” she said. “I am so proud to be Armenian and I could not ask for a more loving culture to be a part of.”
Her photo series entitled “Fortitude,” from which this photo essay is culled, represents “the suffering and the resilience of our people.”
She took part in the March for Justice in LA on April 24, 2015.
“The thought that this has gone on for over 100 years irks me. I was in that crowd of thousands of people and I walked with them feeling the same pain as both the younger and older generations. I have heard stories from my own family about how they escaped and I cannot fathom that the government [of Turkey] still tries to deny their truths.”
Click on the above gallery to view photos.
