Armenian Photographers in the Ottoman Empire

From the Collections of The Getty Research Institute

GLENDALE — The public is invited on Thursday, February 19, 2015, at 7 pm to a presentation by scholar Julia Grimes of photographs taken by Armenians in the Ottoman Empire at the Glendale Central Library Auditorium , 222 East Harvard Street in Glendale. The discussion will be in English. Admission will be free. Library visitors receive 3 hours FREE parking across the street at The Market Place parking structure with validation at the Loan Desk.

The Armenians in the Ottoman Empire were highly educated and held high level positions. They were scholars, doctors, chemists, goldsmiths, and pharmacists, and many possessed the skills necessary for photography, in particular a thorough knowledge of the chemical processes used in development. Some of the principal studios in Constantinople, including J. Pascal Sébah and Abdullah Frères, were owned and operated by photographers of Armenian descent.

Julia Grimes is completing her Ph.D. in Chinese modern and contemporary art at the University of California, Los Angeles. She has been a research assistant at the Getty Research Institute since 2010. She will discuss these studios and their vital importance to the evolution of photography throughout the Ottoman Empire at the close of the 19th century.