Memory of Trees

In the early 1900s, as the Ottoman Empire collapsed, a fiercely nationalistic movement took power. As with all ideologies, their taking hold meant the termination of what didn't fit its new identity—its Christian Armenian citizens.

Memory of Trees follows the remains and traces of an ambiguous, dark history—the great crime recognized today as genocide by more than a dozen countries. Kathryn Cook traveled across Turkey and Armenia, to Syria, Lebanon, and Israel, sifting through the remains of this legacy and tracking down survivors. Her images emphasize the emotional tonality of the story rather than documenting specific events.