Pascal Sébah (1823–1886) was a photographer in

Constantinople la, Constantinopolis ota, قسطنطينيه , alternate_name = Byzantion (earlier Greek name), Nova Roma ("New Rome"), Miklagard/Miklagarth (Old Norse), Tsargrad ( Slavic), Qustantiniya (Arabic), Basileuousa ("Queen of Cities"), Megalopolis (" ...

(now

Istanbul Istanbul ( , ; tr, İstanbul ), formerly known as Constantinople ( grc-gre, Κωνσταντινούπολις; la, Constantinopolis), is the List of largest cities and towns in Turkey, largest city in Turkey, serving as the country's economic, ...

) and Cairo, who produced a prolific number of images of Egypt, Turkey and Greece to serve the tourist trade.

Life and work

Jean Pascal Sebah - Water Carrier (Egypt)

Pascal Sébah was born in Constantinople, then the capital of the

Ottoman Empire The Ottoman Empire, * ; is an archaic version. The definite article forms and were synonymous * and el, Оθωμανική Αυτοκρατορία, Othōmanikē Avtokratoria, label=none * info page on book at Martin Luther University) ...

, to an Assyrian father and an

Armenia Armenia (), , group=pron officially the Republic of Armenia,, is a landlocked country in the Armenian Highlands of Western Asia.The UNbr>classification of world regions places Armenia in Western Asia; the CIA World Factbook , , and ''Ox ...

n mother.Philip Carabott, Yannis Hamilakis and Eleni Papargyriou (eds), ''Camera Graeca: Photographs, Narratives, Materialities,'' Routledge, 2016, p. 114 He initially worked in collaboration with the French photographer, Henri Bechard. After receiving medals at the International Exhibition in Paris, he decided to open his own studio in Constantinople in 1857. Sébah's studio was known as 'El Chark'' (meaning "The Orient"), situated at 439 Grande Rue de Pera in the center of the city and close by the embassies and hotels where tourists met. Sébah primarily produced photographs for the tourist trade. By the second half of the 19th century, tourist travel to Egypt had created strong demand for photographs as

souvenir A souvenir (), memento, keepsake, or token of remembrance is an object a person acquires for the memories the owner associates with it. A souvenir can be any object that can be collected or purchased and transported home by the traveler as a m ...

s. Sébah was among a group of early photographers in Constantinople and Cairo to capitalise on this demand. These pioneering photographers included Félix Bonfils (1831-1885);

Gustave Le Gray Jean-Baptiste Gustave Le Gray (; 30 August 1820 – 30 July 1884)Le Corre, Florence "Translated from the catalogue ''Une visite au camp de Châlons sous le Second Empire: photographies de Messieurs Le Gray, Prévot...'', Paris: musée de l'Armée, ...

(1820-1884), brothers Henri and Emile Bechard; the British-Italian brothers

Antonio Beato Antonio Beato (1835–1906), also known as Antoine Beato, was an Italian-British photographer. He is noted for his genre works, portraits, views of the architecture and landscapes of Egypt and other locations in the Mediterranean region. He wa ...

(c. 1832–1906) and

Felice Beato Felice Beato (1832 – 29 January 1909), also known as Felix Beato, was an Italian–British photographer. He was one of the first people to take photographs in East Asia and one of the first war photographers. He is noted for his genre works, ...

and the Greek Zangaki brothers. By 1873 Sébah was successful enough to open a second studio in

Cairo Cairo ( ; ar, القاهرة, al-Qāhirah, ) is the capital of Egypt and its largest city, home to 10 million people. It is also part of the largest urban agglomeration in Africa, the Arab world and the Middle East: The Greater Cairo metro ...

. The same year, he exhibited at the Ottoman pavilion of the Universal Exhibition in

Vienna en, Viennese , iso_code = AT-9 , registration_plate = W , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = , timezone = CET , utc_offset = +1 , timezone_DST ...

Austria Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...

.Photography in Ottoman Istanbul
by Margaret Kurkoski, 2013-2015 Curatorial Fellow, Smith College Museum of Art He established a valuable working relationship with Turkish painter

Osman Hamdi Bey Osman Hamdi Bey (30 December 1842, in Istanbul 24 February 1910) was an Ottoman Empire, Ottoman administrator, intellectual, art expert and also a prominent and pioneering painter. He was also an accomplished archaeologist, and is regarded as th ...

, taking photographs as part of the artist's preparation, and in which he experimented with light and shade. In turn, Hamdi Bey selected Sébah to illustrate his text on the popular costumes worn by Turkish and other ethnic groups, entitled ''Les Costumes Populaires de la Turquie en 1873: ouvrage publié sous le patronage de la Commission impériale ottomane pour l'Exposition universelle de Vienne'' and published in 1873.Osman Hamdi Bey; Marie de Launay; J Pascal Sébah, ''Les Costumes Populaires de la Turquie en 1873: ouvrage publié sous le patronage de la Commission impériale ottomane pour l'Exposition universelle de Vienne,'' Turkey, Commission impériale ottomane pour l'Exposition universelle de Vienne, 1873 Following his death on 25 June 1886, the studio continued in business. It was managed by his brother, Cosmi, and in 1888 Pollicarpe Joiallier became a partner. At this time, the company was renamed Sebah & JoaillierHannavy, J., ''Encyclopedia of Nineteenth-Century Photography,'' Routledge, 2013, p. 1036 Pascal's son, Jean Pascal Sébah, also joined in 1888 and went on to run the studio with other photographers. The firm developed a reputation as the leading representative of Orientalist photography and in 1889 was appointed the Photographers by Appointment to the

Prussian Court The Kingdom of Prussia (german: Königreich Preußen, ) was a German kingdom that constituted the state of Prussia between 1701 and 1918.Marriott, J. A. R., and Charles Grant Robertson. ''The Evolution of Prussia, the Making of an Empire''. R ...

. Sébah's studio continued operations, in one form or another, until 1952 at the same address and then moved until its closure in 1973. Sebah, a Syrian Catholic, was buried in the Latin cemetery in Ferikoy. His son, Jean Pascal Sébah, is also buried there.

Gallery of photographs by Sébah

File:Sultan Abd-ul-Aziz - P. Sebah (1838-1910).jpg, Portrait of Sultan Abdul Aziz by Pascal Sébah File:Pascal Sébah (Turkish, 1823-1886). Panoramic view of the Topkapi Saray Palace (section 1), ca. 1860-1880.jpg, Section of the ''Panoramic view of the

Topkapı Palace The Topkapı Palace ( tr, Topkapı Sarayı; ota, طوپقپو سرايى, ṭopḳapu sarāyı, lit=cannon gate palace), or the Seraglio A seraglio, serail, seray or saray (from fa, سرای, sarāy, palace, via Turkish and Italian) i ...

, ca. 1860-1880,

Brooklyn Museum The Brooklyn Museum is an art museum located in the New York City borough of Brooklyn. At , the museum is New York City's second largest and contains an art collection with around 1.5 million objects. Located near the Prospect Heights, Crown H ...

File:Damascusfashion.jpg, Damascus fashion, illustration from the book ''Popular Costumes in Turkey,'' 1873 File:Constan.jpg, Turkish Women of Constantinople, illustration from the book ''Popular Costumes in Turkey,'' 1873 File:Syrian20fashions.jpg, Syrian fashion, illustration from the book ''Popular Costumes in Turkey,'' 1873 File:Alepp0fashion.jpg, Bedouins from Aleppo, illustration from the book ''Popular Costumes in Turkey,'' 1873 File:Zahlefashion.jpg, Fashion from ''(l-r)'' Zahle, Lebanon and (Zgharta), illustration from the book ''Popular Costumes in Turkey,'' 1873 File:Ottomcostumes1873 planche16 shkodra.jpg, Christian couple from Shkodra, illustration from the book ''Popular Costumes in Turkey,'' 1873 File:MMoCA191a (MA) Photographs by J. Pascal Sebah.jpg, ''Dendra: 'Temple of Hathor File:MMoCA191b (MA) Photographs by J. Pascal Sebah.jpg, ''Abydoss Seti I Offering Incense to Osiris''

References

General references

* Fabrizio Casaretto, Sébah & Joaillier photos. www.sebahjoaillier.com * Engin Özendes, ''From Sébah & Joaillier to Foto Sabah. Orientalism in Photography'', Istanbul, YKY, 1999. * Michelle L. Woodward, "Between Orientalist Clichés and Images of Modernization: Photographic Practice in the Late Ottoman Era," ''History of Photography'', winter 2003, Vol. 27, No. 4.

External links

''Les Costumes Popularies de la Turquie en 1873''
by Osman Bey Hamdi with illustrations by Pascal Sébah
Vintage Rag Trader - Vintage Photographs by Pascal Sebah

blog on Sebah's biography
Pascal Sébah
blog on Sebah's biography *
Bibliothèque numérique de l'INHA - Fonds photographique Pascal Sébah de l'ENSBA
{{DEFAULTSORT:Sebah, Pascal 1823 births 1886 deaths 19th-century photographers Armenian photographers Orientalist painters Early photographers in Egypt

Life and work

Gallery of photographs by Sébah

See also

References

General references

External links