Jean Pascal Sébah (1872 – 6 June 1947) was a Syriac-

Armenian Armenian may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to Armenia, a country in the South Caucasus region of Eurasia * Armenians, the national people of Armenia, or people of Armenian descent ** Armenian diaspora, Armenian communities around the ...

photographer. The son of Pascal Sébah, he continued the Sébah family's photographic legacy after his father's death in 1886.

Life and career

Jean Pascal Sébah was the son of Pascal Sébah who had opened a photographic studio in Cairo from the mid-1850s and another studio in Constantinople from the early 1870s. The Sébah studio had earned a reputation for the foremost Orientalist photography in the region.Hannavy, J., ''Encyclopedia of Nineteenth-Century Photography,'' Routledge, 2013, p. 1036 Following his father's death on 25 June 1886, the studio continued in business. Initially it was managed by his uncle, Cosmi (his father's brother), and in 1888 Pollicarpe Joaillier became a partner. At this time the company was renamed Sebah & Joaillier 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.Hannavy, J., ''Encyclopedia of Nineteenth-Century Photography,'' Routledge, 2013, p. 1032 and p. 1036 In 1893, Sultan

Abdulhamid II Abdulhamid II or Abdul Hamid II (; ; 21 September 184210 February 1918) was the 34th sultan of the Ottoman Empire, from 1876 to 1909, and the last sultan to exert effective control over the fracturing state. He oversaw a Decline and modernizati ...

sponsored fifty-one photographic albums representing the span of the

Ottoman Empire The Ottoman Empire (), also called the Turkish Empire, was an empire, imperial realm that controlled much of Southeast Europe, West Asia, and North Africa from the 14th to early 20th centuries; it also controlled parts of southeastern Centr ...

with two of the volumes produced by Sebah & Joaillier. U.S. President

Grover Cleveland Stephen Grover Cleveland (March 18, 1837June 24, 1908) was the 22nd and 24th president of the United States, serving from 1885 to 1889 and from 1893 to 1897. He was the first U.S. president to serve nonconsecutive terms and the first Hist ...

was one of the recipients of the photo collection and it is now in the

Library of Congress The Library of Congress (LOC) is a research library in Washington, D.C., serving as the library and research service for the United States Congress and the ''de facto'' national library of the United States. It also administers Copyright law o ...

in the USA.Photography in Ottoman Istanbul
by Margaret Kurkoski, 2013-2015 Curatorial Fellow, Smith College Museum of Art The "Foto Sabah" studio in

Pera Pera may refer to: Places * Pera (Beyoğlu), a district in Istanbul formerly called Pera, now called Beyoğlu ** Galata, a neighbourhood of Beyoğlu, often referred to as Pera in the past * Pêra (Caparica), a Portuguese locality in the district o ...

, Constantinople, was the most prestigious photography studio in the city for many decades during the 19th and 20th centuries. Their photographs depicted sites such as the

Hagia Sophia Hagia Sophia (; ; ; ; ), officially the Hagia Sophia Grand Mosque (; ), is a mosque and former Church (building), church serving as a major cultural and historical site in Istanbul, Turkey. The last of three church buildings to be successively ...

, the Blue Mosque and the

Galata Tower The Galata Tower (), officially the Galata Tower Museum (), is a medieval Genoese tower in the Galata part of the Beyoğlu district of Istanbul, Turkey. Built as a watchtower at the highest point of the mostly demolished Walls of Galata, the t ...

. Sébah died on 6 June 1947, at the age of 75.

Gallery

File:Album Constantinople 21.jpg, Ottoman dignitaries File:Album_Constantinople_27.jpg, Orthodox clergyman File:Derviche Hurleur, Turquie.jpg, Turkish

dervish Dervish, Darvesh, or Darwīsh (from ) in Islam can refer broadly to members of a Sufi fraternity (''tariqah''), or more narrowly to a religious mendicant, who chose or accepted material poverty. The latter usage is found particularly in Persi ...

File:Jean Pascal Sebah - Nubian Woman.jpg, Nubian woman File:Album Constantinople 38.jpg, View of Constantinople File:Intérieur de la mosquée de Ste Sophie.jpg, Interior of

mosque File:Sirkeci-gari-sebah-and-joaillier.jpg, Sirkeci train station, Constantinople File:Jean Pascal Sebah, Statue de Ramses - Memphis - 18802.jpg, Statue of Rameses, 1880s

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sebah, Jean Pascal 1872 births 1947 deaths Armenian photographers Photography in Egypt Pioneers of photography in Egypt 20th-century photographers from the Ottoman Empire Armenians from the Ottoman Empire 19th-century photographers from the Ottoman Empire

Life and career

Gallery

See also

References

External links