I photographed Armenia as someone trying to feel the pulse of a new place through its people. In the city and in the villages I met people of the land, hi-tech workers, students and pupils in a boarding school, tourists like myself, and the many people who provide services and keep things running quietly in the background. I was interested in the tension between earth and start-up, between the quiet of the mountains and the noise of a developing city. Through the camera I tried to build a small map of relationships - of gazes, gestures and everyday situations - that together form a personal portrait of Armenia as I encountered it for the first time.