Photos exploring the cost of the American dream
- Text by Miss Rosen
- Photography by Diana Markosian
On January 2, 1993, Santa Barbara became the first American television show to air in Russia after the collapse of the Soviet Union. The beloved 1980s soap opera chronicling the lives of the wealthy Capwell clan of Southern California became a sparkling image of the American Dream, captivating a nation just liberated from the yoke of a communist regime.
Born in Moscow in 1989 – the year the Berlin Wall fell and the Eastern Bloc began to crumble to dust – photographer Diana Markosian grew up idolising Santa Barbara. “It was a window to another life that didn’t belong to us,” she says.
“We had nothing as a family. My brother and I were picking bottles to buy bread for my mom. Both my parents had PhDs, but couldn’t get work. My father was painting nesting dolls for tourists on the Red Square. They were reduced to nothing and they weren’t the only ones.”
Mom by the Pool, 2019
A New Life, 2019
Refusing to give into circumstance, Markosian’s mother, Svetlana, made the decision to escape. She began a correspondence with an American man living in California. In 1996, Svetlana moved to Santa Barbara, bringing only her son and daughter.
It was a decision that changed Markosian’s life forevermore. Nearly 25 years later, the photographer returns to this turning point in the new book Santa Barbara (Aperture), a multifaceted story of family weaving together staged scenes, film stills, and family pictures, along with pages from a script written in collaboration with one of the original Santa Barbara writers, Lynda Myles.
The project began as a personal discovery and a desire to understand the circumstances that brought her to America. “I was so blindsided by so many decisions; I was like carry-on luggage – there for the ride,” Markosian says. “When we arrived in America, I felt like I was transported inside the TV and was now part of the fantasy.”
Eli’s House, 2019
To make the book Santa Barbara, Markosian decided to look at the story from her mother’s point of view to understand the courage it took to abandon everything in search of a better life for herself and her children. “I saw in her this sadness for everything that happened to us from the Soviet Union collapsing to the separation between her and my father. It was this overall feeling of, ‘This can’t be my life.’ She taught me what it meant to not be defined by circumstances, and to forge your own.”
At the same time, Markosian felt anger and disappointment for not having a say in the decision that would forever change her life. “Losing my father, my culture, my family in Armenia. We lost the same thing and for what?” Markosian asks.
“The American Dream was her dream but it wasn’t mine. It feels painful to say this because I don’t even know what would have happened if we stayed. All of this comes from sadness that I can’t go back in time and make my own decisions – but this project allowed me to piece something together and have a chance to relive it.”
Moscow Breadline, 2019
Lifeline, 2019
The Wedding, 2019
Mom Alone, 2019
Diana Markosian: Santa Barbara will open at the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art on February 13, 2021. The work will then be exhibited at the International Center of Photography in New York. Markosian has launched a personal print sale on her website through the end of November benefiting Armenia Fund.
Follow Miss Rosen on Twitter.
Enjoyed this article? Like Huck on Facebook or follow us on Twitter.
You might like
An intimate window into New York’s ’70s lesbian scene
We Others — An exhibition at The Photographer’s Gallery combines Donna Gottschalk’s unearthed photographs of LGBTQ+ activists and friends, along with Hélène Gianneccini’s written histories.
Written by: Miss Rosen
A tender portrait of life and ritual from Mexico City’s streets
Órale — For the last six years of his life, photographer, collector and designer Michel Hurst documented death rituals, street life and religious pageantry in contemporary Mexico. A new monograph showcases his work.
Written by: Roxana Diba
In photos: Washington DC’s Black communities facing up to gentrification
A Language We Share — A new exhibition featuring the work of Beverly Price and Gordon Parks preserves historically Black neighbourhoods in the USA, before development and economic forces made them disappear.
Written by: Miss Rosen
On the frontlines of Britain’s ’80s protest movements
Protest and Equality — Against a backdrop of Thatcherism, hospital closures and global conflict, photographer Sarah Saunders was a documentarian of the long decade’s effects on society, as well as the communities actively resisting it.
Written by: Miss Rosen
How one of the world’s best big wave photographers & filmmakers gets the perfect shot
Staring down the barrel — Sachi Cunningham has built an immersive body of work documenting huge barrels by getting closer to the action than most. Josh Jones speaks to her about her process, finding order within chaos, and the importance of feeling awe.
Written by: Josh Jones
In photos: The gritty golden age of the UK’s skateboarding scene
Elsewhere — A new book from Science Vs. Life founder Neil Macdonald explores the characters, photographs and ephemera that defined the sport in the ’80s and ’90s, just before the internet and commercialisation changed it forever.
Written by: Isaac Muk
