The World Through the Lens of the Photographer Ara Güler

Abstract

The art of photography appeared in Turkey between the XIX and XX centuries. In the beginning, because of the high price of the service, only the rich could afford it. The first photography studio in the Ottoman Empire was established in the Bera district of Constantinople (presently, the Beyoglu district of Istanbul), where most of the population was Christian. Here, in 1857, Pascal Sebah of Armenian descent opened a photography center. He was one of the few to be awarded the Third-Class Order of the Medjidie by Sultan Abdulmejid. Unfortunately, all his photographic works were burnt in the great fire of 1881. The sons of Sarraf Mikayel Abdullahyan – Vichen, Gevorg and Hovsep Abdullah, also occupy an important place in the history of Turkish photography. They held a monopoly on dissemination of photography throughout the Empire. In 1836, the Abdullahyan brothers became special photographers fоr Sultan Abdul Aziz. In 1867, near the Russian Embassy in Bera, they opened a photography studio named “Abdullah Brothers”. A great number of photographers of Turkish and foreign descent, working in Turkey, namely, the Gulmez brothers, Ashil Samanj, Jerome Savajian, the Papazyan brothers, Antoine Zilipojian, Othmar Pfersci, Ismayin Nesmi, Ahmed Polat and others, furthered the development of Turkish photography. Ara Güler is one of those, who played a big part in the history of photography, having created with his outstanding works a whole new world in that field.