Glimpses into the ARF Photo Archives: The Gougounian Group
A few of the pictures from the ARF photo archives are particularly eye-catching. Clicking through the images, one cannot help but notice photos like the ones below, for example.
At first, it seems almost comical, as if it was a fad once upon a time for young men to shave the right half of their heads while keeping heavy beards and mustaches. Upon closer inspection, though, one notices a uniformity in what these men wore as well, and facial expressions that do not suggest a willful participation in the proceedings.
The captions and notes on the backs of the photos reveal the secret. These are four participants of the Gougounian Expedition – a tale from the turn of the 20th century worthy of a movie that has more or less gotten lost in the epic history of the Armenian people.
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