Bio
AT THE CROSSROAD OF BUSINESS, SCIENCE, AND ART:
Professional Summary
Accomplished and multifaceted professional at the crossroads of Business, Science, and Art, with a unique fundamental scientific background. Possesses a Ph.D. in Physics, two postdoctoral research positions in Archaeology, and formal training in professional photography. Skilled in integrating scientific methods with business strategy, artistic vision, and humanitarian efforts, particularly in high-stakes environments. Dedicated to leveraging a diverse skill set to drive innovative solutions in complex, multidisciplinary projects.
With an international background shaped by life and work in five countries, I bring a cross-disciplinary perspective to scientific, cultural, and artistic challenges. Growing up in Armenia in a binational Armenian–Greek family, I learned four languages and developed a global, holistic approach to thinking, research, and creative problem-solving.
My academic path began with a PhD in Physics, specializing in theoretical modelling, and later evolved toward archaeology through postdoctoral research at Aristotle University of Thessaloniki (Greece) and Ghent University (Belgium). My specialization in archaeometallurgy reflects a long-standing commitment to uncovering material traces of shared human history and interpreting them within broader cultural narratives.
In parallel, I have cultivated a sustained artistic practice. A graduate of the New York Institute of Photography (Professional Photographer Programme, February 2025), I have held ten international photo exhibitions, including three in the United States. My photographic work blends research, storytelling, and visual narrative, positioned at the intersection of documentary inquiry and poetic reflection.
Professionally, I have held senior Human Resources roles at Coca-Cola Bottlers Armenia and at the Mother See of Holy Etchmiadzin, the Religious and Spiritual Center of All Armenians. Across science, art, and institutional leadership, my work is unified by strategic vision, creative thinking, and a commitment to meaningful interdisciplinary engagement.
From 2017 to 2025, I focused on documentary photography and creative writing, producing eight research-based multimedia projects hosted on self-designed personal websites—each an independent exploration of memory, culture, identity, and place.
More: https://marinamkhitar.webnode.page/multimedia-projects/
My photo art projects rooted in Hellenic themes explore provincial Greece, Greek Orthodoxy, and the quiet metaphysics of everyday life, transforming landscape, architecture, and sacred space into symbols of inner journey and collective memory. Conceptually, my work resonates with Kazimir Malevich's search for essence beyond form—where visual reduction leads to spiritual presence, silence, and transcendence—while also paralleling Picasso's radical freedom to reconstruct tradition rather than merely inherit it. The camera becomes both a philosophical instrument and a confessional space, allowing Hellenic inspiration to emerge not as folklore, but as a living, evolving force that bridges antiquity and modernity, matter and spirit, history and contemporary human experience.
More: https://marinalazarusphotography.webnode.page/
Dr. Marina Mchitarian-Lazaridou
Hellenic Republic
January 2026