Tweet
ARCHIVE PRESENTS A HALF-CENTURY OF ISTANBUL'S FACES
Hatice Utkan
Hurriyet Daily News
http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/n.php?n=archive-presents-a-half-century-of-istanbuls-faces-2011-11-28
Nov 28 2011
Turkey
Salt Galata is currently hosting a project by artist and researcher
Tayfun SerttaÅ~_. The artist is aiming to discover the cultural
heritage of Istanbul via the photographic archive of Armenian
photographer Maryam Å~^ahinyan
The photography archive of Maryam Å~^ahinbaÅ~_ features is made up
of approximately 200,000 photos.
A great lover of heritage and history, artist Tayfun SerttaÅ~_ is
shedding light on Istanbul's demographic past with a new project at
Salt Galata focusing on long-time photographer Maryam Å~^ahinyan.
The project is based on the revisualization of the complete
professional archive of Å~^ahinyan, who was born in the Central
Anatolian province of Sivas in 1911 and died in Istanbul in 1996.
Å~^ahinyan worked as a photographer at her modest studio called Foto
Galatasaray uninterruptedly from 1935 until 1985. The archive is a
unique inventory of the demographic transformations that occurred
in the socio-cultural map of Istanbul after the declaration of
the Republic and the historical period it witnessed; it is also a
chronological record of an Istanbul-based female studio photographer's
professional career.
SerttaÅ~_ told the Hurriyet Daily News that he did not find Å~^ahinyan,
but that she found him. "I knew that there was an archive like this. I
knew that the person who bought the Studio Galatasaray after Maryam
moved to Uskudar. Then he left the city and left the archive. My
publisher, Yetvart Tomasyan, told me that there was a closed archive."
The archive waited for a long time before SerttaÅ~_ found it. "I took
the archive in 2009," he said.
SerttaÅ~_ is also a researcher who works on visual archives. "During
my education, which focused on cultural anthropology, I worked with
lots of archives. My
dissertation was called 'Photographs and Minorities in Istanbul as
a Means of Cultural Representation in the Process of Modernism,'"
he said.
Making art out of such research and images is SerttaÅ~_'s latest
project. Because there are close to 200,000 images in Å~^ahinyan's
archive, the task of presenting them is difficult, he said.
Who was Maryam Å~^ahinyan?
Beyond the fact that she was a photographer and owned a studio, there
is little information about Å~^ahinyan. "We know that she went to the
studio every single day, we know that she ate one apple every day at
noon and that she returned home," SerttaÅ~_ said.
Å~^ahinyan, an Ottoman Armenian, was born in 1911 at Å~^ahinyan Konagı
(Camlı KöÅ~_k), one of the most impressive civil structures in Sivas.
Her grandfather, Agop Å~^ahinyan PaÅ~_a, represented Sivas in the first
Ottoman Parliament (Meclis-i Mebusan), which was established in 1877.
Born with the social privilege inherent to a grandchild of a member
of parliament, Å~^ahinyan's life took an unexpected turn when, as a
child, she witnessed the historical events of 1915.
Armed with the wooden bellows camera her father originally took over
from a family that immigrated from the Balkans in the aftermath of
World War I and the black-and-white sheet film she continued to use
until 1985, Å~^ahinyan, in a sense, arrested time - both against
the technological advancements photography was experiencing and
contemporary trends. In the end, she created an unparalleled visual
coherence without compromising her technical and aesthetic principles.
Throughout her professional life, Å~^ahinyan wore a white coat and
black over-sleeves to protect her clothing, according to SerttaÅ~_.
"When she retired from the studio in 1985, Å~^ahinyan left behind a
unique visual archive made up of approximately 200,000 images. She
passed away at
her home on Hanımefendi Sokak in Å~^iÅ~_li in 1996 and is buried in
the Å~^iÅ~_li Armenian Cemetery," said SerttaÅ~_.
Women in the studio
The photography archive features many photographs of women, according
to SerttaÅ~_.
"This was because of Maryam," said SerttaÅ~_, adding that women went
to her for pictures with their nice dresses or with their swimsuits.
Priests or nuns, meanwhile, went had pictures taken with their crosses.
It is very important to have an archive like Å~^ahinyan's, said
SerttaÅ~_.
"For example, these photographs also provide a cultural and historical
heritage because we have always had problems in terms of having an
archive in Turkey ... on cultural issues."
Å~^ahiyan's photographs, however, now provide such an archive, the
artist said. "It shows us the lifestyle of people; we can discover
how these minority people lived during that era."
Noting that most people always thought Armenians or minorities in
Istanbul lived a rich life, SerttaÅ~_ said, "The photos lead us to
learn more about the lives of minorities; there were lots of people
who had damaged clothes and so on."
The photographs mostly depict Greeks. "These photos show what we have
lost," he said.
Discovering Foto Galatasaray
Foto Galatasaray was never as visible as some of the more elite
photography studios that have been famous since the 19th century,
such as Phebus, Andriomenos or Sabah, SerttaÅ~_ said.
The studio, however, survived because it appealed to the lower and
middle classes.
Å~^ahinyan was a devout woman, and her identity created a closely-knit
circle that determined the sociological basis of Foto Galatasaray's
clientele, setting it apart from Istanbul's other studios.
Except for four understated passport photos, no photographs exist of
Å~^ahinyan herself, who throughout her life remained behind the camera,
scrupulously taking hundreds of thousands of photographs, retouching
them, and painstakingly numbering and dating each film she developed.
Spanning half a century, her work impartially traces the ethnic,
social, cultural, religious and economic transformations taking place
at the center of the city.
After the present exhibition, the archive will be opened to everyone
via the Internet, said SerttaÅ~_.
A new period will start for the archive. "People will be able to
tell if they know these people, and every photo will assume a [new]
identity," he added.
Hatice Utkan
Hurriyet Daily News
http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/n.php?n=archive-presents-a-half-century-of-istanbuls-faces-2011-11-28
Nov 28 2011
Turkey
Salt Galata is currently hosting a project by artist and researcher
Tayfun SerttaÅ~_. The artist is aiming to discover the cultural
heritage of Istanbul via the photographic archive of Armenian
photographer Maryam Å~^ahinyan
The photography archive of Maryam Å~^ahinbaÅ~_ features is made up
of approximately 200,000 photos.
A great lover of heritage and history, artist Tayfun SerttaÅ~_ is
shedding light on Istanbul's demographic past with a new project at
Salt Galata focusing on long-time photographer Maryam Å~^ahinyan.
The project is based on the revisualization of the complete
professional archive of Å~^ahinyan, who was born in the Central
Anatolian province of Sivas in 1911 and died in Istanbul in 1996.
Å~^ahinyan worked as a photographer at her modest studio called Foto
Galatasaray uninterruptedly from 1935 until 1985. The archive is a
unique inventory of the demographic transformations that occurred
in the socio-cultural map of Istanbul after the declaration of
the Republic and the historical period it witnessed; it is also a
chronological record of an Istanbul-based female studio photographer's
professional career.
SerttaÅ~_ told the Hurriyet Daily News that he did not find Å~^ahinyan,
but that she found him. "I knew that there was an archive like this. I
knew that the person who bought the Studio Galatasaray after Maryam
moved to Uskudar. Then he left the city and left the archive. My
publisher, Yetvart Tomasyan, told me that there was a closed archive."
The archive waited for a long time before SerttaÅ~_ found it. "I took
the archive in 2009," he said.
SerttaÅ~_ is also a researcher who works on visual archives. "During
my education, which focused on cultural anthropology, I worked with
lots of archives. My
dissertation was called 'Photographs and Minorities in Istanbul as
a Means of Cultural Representation in the Process of Modernism,'"
he said.
Making art out of such research and images is SerttaÅ~_'s latest
project. Because there are close to 200,000 images in Å~^ahinyan's
archive, the task of presenting them is difficult, he said.
Who was Maryam Å~^ahinyan?
Beyond the fact that she was a photographer and owned a studio, there
is little information about Å~^ahinyan. "We know that she went to the
studio every single day, we know that she ate one apple every day at
noon and that she returned home," SerttaÅ~_ said.
Å~^ahinyan, an Ottoman Armenian, was born in 1911 at Å~^ahinyan Konagı
(Camlı KöÅ~_k), one of the most impressive civil structures in Sivas.
Her grandfather, Agop Å~^ahinyan PaÅ~_a, represented Sivas in the first
Ottoman Parliament (Meclis-i Mebusan), which was established in 1877.
Born with the social privilege inherent to a grandchild of a member
of parliament, Å~^ahinyan's life took an unexpected turn when, as a
child, she witnessed the historical events of 1915.
Armed with the wooden bellows camera her father originally took over
from a family that immigrated from the Balkans in the aftermath of
World War I and the black-and-white sheet film she continued to use
until 1985, Å~^ahinyan, in a sense, arrested time - both against
the technological advancements photography was experiencing and
contemporary trends. In the end, she created an unparalleled visual
coherence without compromising her technical and aesthetic principles.
Throughout her professional life, Å~^ahinyan wore a white coat and
black over-sleeves to protect her clothing, according to SerttaÅ~_.
"When she retired from the studio in 1985, Å~^ahinyan left behind a
unique visual archive made up of approximately 200,000 images. She
passed away at
her home on Hanımefendi Sokak in Å~^iÅ~_li in 1996 and is buried in
the Å~^iÅ~_li Armenian Cemetery," said SerttaÅ~_.
Women in the studio
The photography archive features many photographs of women, according
to SerttaÅ~_.
"This was because of Maryam," said SerttaÅ~_, adding that women went
to her for pictures with their nice dresses or with their swimsuits.
Priests or nuns, meanwhile, went had pictures taken with their crosses.
It is very important to have an archive like Å~^ahinyan's, said
SerttaÅ~_.
"For example, these photographs also provide a cultural and historical
heritage because we have always had problems in terms of having an
archive in Turkey ... on cultural issues."
Å~^ahiyan's photographs, however, now provide such an archive, the
artist said. "It shows us the lifestyle of people; we can discover
how these minority people lived during that era."
Noting that most people always thought Armenians or minorities in
Istanbul lived a rich life, SerttaÅ~_ said, "The photos lead us to
learn more about the lives of minorities; there were lots of people
who had damaged clothes and so on."
The photographs mostly depict Greeks. "These photos show what we have
lost," he said.
Discovering Foto Galatasaray
Foto Galatasaray was never as visible as some of the more elite
photography studios that have been famous since the 19th century,
such as Phebus, Andriomenos or Sabah, SerttaÅ~_ said.
The studio, however, survived because it appealed to the lower and
middle classes.
Å~^ahinyan was a devout woman, and her identity created a closely-knit
circle that determined the sociological basis of Foto Galatasaray's
clientele, setting it apart from Istanbul's other studios.
Except for four understated passport photos, no photographs exist of
Å~^ahinyan herself, who throughout her life remained behind the camera,
scrupulously taking hundreds of thousands of photographs, retouching
them, and painstakingly numbering and dating each film she developed.
Spanning half a century, her work impartially traces the ethnic,
social, cultural, religious and economic transformations taking place
at the center of the city.
After the present exhibition, the archive will be opened to everyone
via the Internet, said SerttaÅ~_.
A new period will start for the archive. "People will be able to
tell if they know these people, and every photo will assume a [new]
identity," he added.