History of Armenian photography
The first attempts to capture the picture were made in the first half of the XIX century. Here you can see works by French Joseph Niepce and Louis Daguerre, British William Talbot and Richard Maddox. The history of Armenian photography can be counted from Armenian photo studios of the Ottoman Empire.
Armenian photography in the Ottoman Empire. The XIX century second half
Armenian photographers captured life in the Ottoman Empire of the XIX century, mainly, that of Constantinople.
The photos introduce us to the Armenian community of the empire. We can see both religious figures and ordinary families in national costumes, captured in them.
Initially, as it was throughout the world, chemists, jewelers and pharmacists became photographers since they possessed the skills making the creation of photographs possible. The knowledge of the chemical processes, used in the manifestation of images was of particular importance were.
The main photo studios of Constantinople belonged to the Armenians. Among them Pascal Ceba, the «photographer of Constantinople», was the most successful. In 1857, he opened his first photo studio «El chark» in the city center, which became famous throughout the Middle East. His success was so overwhelming that Seba opened a second studio in the Egyptian capital, Cairo. Seba captured ancient cities, ruins, portraits and everyday life of local residents in his photographs.
«Abdullah Frères» («Abdullah Brothers») is another Armenian photo studio, famous for the whole Ottoman Empire. The studio, opened by three brothers in 1858, gained such success that soon the brothers were appointed photographers of the Sultan himself. In 1867, they reached the international level. In Paris, at an international exhibition, a panoramic photograph of Constantinople made by them was presented.
Of particular interest are the works by Antoine Khan Sevryugin (Anton Vasilyevich Sevryugin or Sevryukyan). He became the only photographer who the Persian Shah Nasser El Dean (Nasreddin Shah) allowed to photograph the women of his harem. Shah bestowed the title of khan on him for his high skills. Sevryugin, the owner of one of the most successful photo studio in Tehran, is considered to be the founder of the Iranian photography.
Armenian photography in the late XIX - early XX centuries
In the late XIX - early XX centuries, several expeditions of the Imperial Archaeological Commission were undertaken in the ancient Armenian capitals of Van and Ani.
In addition to historians and archaeologists, the expeditions included photographers Hovhannes Kyurkchyan, Aram and Ara Vrouyr. During the excavations, conducted under the guidance of the historian and archaeologist Nikoghayos Mar, many photographs were taken. Hovhannes Qyurqchyan was the first Armenian photographer to shoot Ani.
Thanks to Grigor Ter-Ghevondyan's skills (Tiflis photographer), today we can see portraits of famous Armenians: Raffi, Nalbandyan, Sundukyan, Grigor Artsruni, Catholicos Khrimyan Hayrik, generals Lazarev, Ter-Ghukasov, Loris-Melikov.
Perhaps, the most famous and worldly known Armenian photographer of the XX century is Yousuf Karsh (Hovsep Qarshyan). He went down in history as one of the most successful portrait painters. Karsh captured such famous people as Churchill, Eisenhower, Adenauer, Hemingway, Einstein, Sibelius, George Braque, Corbusier, Jung, Stravinsky, Bernard Shaw, and Walt Disney.
Armenian photography in the second half of the XX century
In the history of photography of the second half of the XX century, the most famous and preserved name is that of Alexander Sahakov, who lived in Tbilisi.
In the history of photography of the second half of the XX century, the most famous and preserved name is that of Alexander Sahakov, who lived in Tbilisi. He is a laureate of many prestigious international prizes and has held more than 120 exhibitions in various countries. He has shooted Svyatoslav Richter, Aram Khachaturian, Bella Akhmadulina, Sergey Paradzhanov, BB King, Jacques Vilar, Maya Plisetskaya, Vladimir Vysotsky, Alla Pugacheva.
The English photographer Ida Kar (Karamyan) studied professional photography in Cairo. Among the portraits created by her, portraits of Somerset Maugham, Leonid Leonov, Dmitry Shostakovich, Marc Chagall, Martiros Saryan, Iris Murdoch, Jean-Paul Sartre, Fidel Castro are the most famous ones. After visiting Armenia in the late 1950s, Ida Kar made a series of photographs that were later presented at her photo exhibition in East Germany.
Photographer Andranik Kochar had his photo studio in Egyptian city of Alexandria. Moving to Armenia, he continued his activity. Among his works there are portraits of William Saroyan, Martiros Saryan, Gurgen Maari, Ruben Mamulyan and Admiral Ivan Isakov.
Ara Guler is also among world famous Armenian photographers, who was born in Istanbul in 1928. Famous Turkish photojournalist of Armenian origin was nicknamed «The Eye of Istanbul» or «Istanbul photographer». Among the many photos on which Guler depicts the life of Istanbul, there are portraits of famous people - Winston Churchill, Picasso, Salvador Dali, and Dustin Hoffmann.
Contemporary photographers
In the period since the 1980s up to our days, Armenia faced a large number of challenges. Photographers managed to capture social and personal experiences and reflect them in photography.
Armenian modern photographers fix real life conditions, changes and complexities that people undergo, as well as search for the moral foundations of the pre-Soviet past. Very often, these are scenes from life, religious and traditional motifs (Hayk Avetisyan, Vardan Terzyan, Scout Tufankjyan).
The genre of reportage photo develops. In 2000, Herman Avakyan was recognized the «Best Photographer of the Year» by the American-Armenian magazine «Hamaynapatker» (Los Angeles, USA). In 2005, he received the Yerevan Press Club Award for the series of photographs «Deadly Toys».
Unfortunately, the genre of the military chronicle is preserved. Areg Balayan, Antoine Agudzhyan, Max Arshak Sivaslyan conduct photo reports from the places of aggravation of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict. If the first photographer focuses attention on military aggression, then the second one - on the social and everyday features of life along the conflict line in the unrecognized republic. Hakob Vanesyan is preparing photo reports from the hotspots of Syria.
The genre of natural shooting is preserved. The most remarkable works are that of Hayk Melkonyan and Vigen Hakhverdyan.
There are also masters of surrealism, creating their own colorful worlds through the lens. It is important to mention Alexander Petrosyan's and Karen Khachaturov's names- St. Petersburg photographers of Armenian origin.
