Vermont Center for Photography

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Life and Traditions in Caucasus Georgia

Gia Chkhatarashvili

- Sep 2011

Native to Georgia, Gia Chkhatarashvili is a self-taught photographer who was born in 1959. A graduate of Tbilisi State University with a degree in philosophy, he discovered photography as a young man. His freelance career began in 1990 and he is a member of the Photographer’s Union of Georgia. Over the past ten years, he has worked on photo assignments for the World Food Program, the Norwegian Refugee Council, The Georgian Times, and German magazine “Vostok.” Gia won first prize in 2004 from the prestigious Fifty Crows International Foundation for Ducumentary Photography (San Francisco), first prize in the International Photo Contest in Saarbrucken, Germany (2001), and first prize in the Georgian Red Cross Association Photo Competition (1999). He has exhibited in the United States, Germany, Poland, and Norway.

Gia’s black and white silverprints portray a peopled landscape that looks to be barely in the 20th century: villagers live in old stone houses, close to the land and animals, heating and cooking with wood while butchering their animals to eat. The viewer senses the simple pleasures of a traditional life as it is passed down to new generations. This lifestyle is hard, but there is a closeness and joy to life that comes from being so connected. These honest photographs give the viewer the time to contemplate what really is important in a meaningful life.

Life and Traditions in Caucasus Georgia opens Friday, September 2 during Brattleboro Gallery Walk, 5:30-8:30pm. The exhibit will be on view through November 2.

All photographs from the exhibit are for sale.  Please contact the gallery at 802.251.6051 or at for more information.  All sales benefit VCP!


A selection of images from the exhibit

  • Life and Traditions in Caucasus Georgia
  • Life and Traditions in Caucasus Georgia
  • Life and Traditions in Caucasus Georgia

Past Exhibits