50 Years and Counting…

Founded in 1975 in New York City, Project Save Photograph Archive is the oldest institution solely focused on preserving and sharing the photography of the Armenian global experience. With over 100,000 hardcopy photographs in our collections, we bring to light the culture and history of Armenians worldwide through the stories that images tell.

Project Save is a living archive and open to all. Through various initiatives, outreach, and collaboration with organizations throughout the world, our mission is to highlight the dynamism, variety, and universal quality of the Armenian experience, while also amplifying the story of all immigrant communities.

In doing so, we not only preserve a unique cultural history, we humanize it, showing that the past is still alive in the present, that we are all connected beyond ethnicity or religion.

Join Project Save’s new chapter so that our mission can continue its growth and impact for future generations.

Why photography?

The modern Armenian global experience is one of migration, divergence, trauma, and rebirth. We believe that photographs are one of the best ways to reflect the resilience, dynamism, and depth of that experience.

Photographs capture specific moments while also universalizing them—that is the unique power of photography. It can easily engage with diverse demographics across borders. When looking at a photograph, we often see ourselves and our shared humanity, in one way or another.

Photographs allow us to reflect on who we are today, as human beings, and what kind of tomorrow we want to wake up to.

As one of the important photography archives in North America, it is vital that in the next few years we move to a larger space that is better suited for our priceless collection and growing staff. An endowment is necessary to continue Project Save’s mission and protect its legacy in the long run—maintaining such a vast collection with all the hours and staff that it takes will not be sustainable otherwise.


  • Founder & President

    Ruth Thomasian, photo archivist and social historian, founded Project Save Armenian Photograph Archives in 1975 out of her practical need for visual information to help her costume Armenian plays set in the homeland. Ruth quickly discovered that photographs and the stories their owners told her were a valuable source of cultural heritage and social history.


  • Executive Director

    A Boston native, Dr. Arto Vaun was most recently Assistant Professor and Chair of the English and Communications BA program at the American University of Armenia (AUA), where he also founded and directed the Center for Creative Writing. He studied English Literature, Creative Writing, and Armenian Studies at UMass Boston, Harvard University, and Glasgow University. He holds a PhD in Creative Writing from Huddersfield University.

Board of Advisors

Kristin Parker
Boston Public Library

Nancy Enneking
Getty Museum

Tatiana Cole
Harvard University

Dr. David Low
Courtauld Institute of Art

Dr. Daniela Jimenez
UCLA/Smithsonian

Tsovinar Kuiumchian
Oxford University

Kim Hoeckele
Muhlenberg College

Elena Bulat
Harvard University 

Nubar Alexanian
Photographer/Filmmaker

Elizabeth Collier
Curator

Kevork Imirzian
Photographer/Editor

Winslow Martin
Photographer

Osheen Harruthoonyan
Photographer

Dr. Levon Avdoyan
Library of Congress (retired)