Vasil Roinashvili
Vasil Roinashvili (1879-1958): Photographer of KakhetiVasil Roinashvili trained in the Tbilisi studio of his cousin, renowned photographer Alexander Roinashvili, where he mastered both drawing and photography. After Alexander's death in 1898, Vasil briefly managed the studio before working in Sighnaghi and Bukhara.
In 1905, he returned to Georgia and established a photography studio in Telavi, Kakheti. He married Sophio Kazakhashvili, built a house with a studio on the first floor, and created a garden with decorated settings for outdoor portraits. For over half a century, he rarely left the countryside, documenting generations of Kakheti residents.
Roinashvili excelled at artistic compositions merging photography with painterly aesthetics. His celebrated work "Georgian Dream Come True" shows a surreal self-portrait: the photographer reclining in the heavens surrounded by symbols of Georgian feasting—wine, drinking horns, and musical instruments—with mountains below.
A close friend of military leader Kakutsa Cholokashvili, Roinashvili fought in the 1918 conflict between Armenia and Georgia. He courageously photographed the famous outlaws Khareba and Gogia of the "Forest Brotherhood," creating images still celebrated in Kakheti today.
Curated by: Giorgi Gersamia
