Scope and Content of the Collection
Arrangement note
Biographical/Historical Note
Acquisition Information
Preferred Citation
Access
Processing History
Publication Rights
Digital collection
Contributing Institution:
Special Collections
Title: Pierre de Gigord collection of photographs of the Ottoman Empire and the Republic of Turkey
Creator:
Gigord, Pierre de
Creator:
Ferrier, Claude Marie, 1811-1889
Creator:
Saum, Adolphe
Creator:
Fenton, Roger, 1819-1869
Creator:
Hissarlian, V.
Creator:
Iranian, M.
Creator:
Kargopoulo, Vassilaki
Creator:
Ali Sami
Creator:
Goupil & Cie
Creator:
Pow Kee
Creator:
Abdullah frères
Creator:
Le Gray, Gustave, 1820-1884
Creator:
Apollon (Firm)
Creator:
Moustier, Alfred de
Identifier/Call Number: 96.R.14
Physical Description:
243.7 Linear Feet
(176 boxes, 2 flatfile folders, 1 frame)
Date (inclusive): 1850-1958 (bulk 1853-1930)
Date (bulk): 1853-1930
Abstract: Spanning roughly one hundred years, the collection of over 6,000 photographic images forms a visual
record of the late years of the Ottoman Empire and the formation and early years of the Republic of Turkey. The collection
focuses on cultural and urban
images, mainly of Constantinople (Istanbul), the capital of the Ottoman Empire, but other geographic areas, such as the Balkans,
and other cities and
towns within the empire such as Bursa and Smyrna (Izmir) are included, as are a few images from sites in Greece, Egypt, Jerusalem,
India and China. The
work of over 165 photographers is represented in the collection. The collection is supported by a small group of pamphlets
and offprints regarding
photography in the Ottoman Empire and by a small assemblage of photographic ephemera.
Physical Location: Request access to the physical materials described in this inventory through the
catalog record for this collection. Click here
for the
access policy .
Language of Material: English
Language of Material: Collection material is in French with someEnglish,German, andTurkish.
Scope and Content of the Collection
Spanning two centuries and roughly one hundred years, the collection of over 6,000 photographic images forms a visual record
of the late years of the
Ottoman Empire and the formation and early years of the Republic of Turkey. The collection focuses on cultural and urban images,
mainly of
Constantinople (Istanbul), the capital of the Ottoman Empire, but other geographic areas, such as the Balkans, and other cities
and towns within the
empire such as Bursa and Smyrna (Izmir) are included, as are a few images from places such as Greece, Egypt, Jerusalem, India
and China. The collection
is supported by a small group of pamphlets and offprints regarding photography in the Ottoman Empire and by a small assemblage
of photographic ephemera.
The first photographs of the Ottoman Empire were likely taken on February 8, 1840 by Goupil Fresquet in the harbor of Izmir.
From this date forward the
Ottoman Empire, and especially its magnificent capital, attracted a large number of photographers of both European and eastern
origin. The voracious
European appetite for images of the Ottoman Empire is evidenced by the fact that most of the present collection was acquired
on the European market. The
earliest photographs in the collection include Claude-Marie Ferrier's glass lantern slides and glass plate negatives of Istanbul
and views of the
Bosporus from the 1850s; images of Istanbul, Athens, Jerusalem, and Egypt and Ottoman portraits and "types", made in the 1850s
by the Englishman James
Robertson, chief engraver at the Imperial Ottoman Mint, alone and with his partner and brother-in-law Felice Beato; and the
poitevin prints made after
photographs taken by Pierre Trémaux during his 1853-1854 journey to the archaeological sites of Asia Minor.
Gigord collected thematically. Although the collection is arranged by format, his method of collecting is especially evident
in the loose and single
photographs as well as in the albums which, rather than being general compilations, tend to focus on specific subjects, time
periods or geographic
areas. Views and monuments of Istanbul and the Bosporus are copiously represented in the collection. In addition to the twelve
joined panoramas of the
city and environs there are also numerous general views of specific geographic areas and neighborhoods. Monuments frequently
represented include mosques
and churches such as the Süleymaniye mosque, the Sultan Ahmed or Blue Mosque, the Ortayköy mosque and the former mosque and
church/mosque of Hagia
Sophia. Palaces include the Topkapi Palace and Dolmabahçe Palace. Istanbul's Roman past is represented by views of the Hippodrome
and its Serpent
Column, Walled Obelisk and Obelisk of Theodosius, and by the Burnt Column and the Valens aqueduct; while the city's medieval
Genoan history is
represented by views of the Galata Tower.
The Bosporus strait, and the seas it joins – the Black Sea and the Sea of Marmara – are extensively documented, as is the
Golden Horn and its bridges,
and especially the Galata Bridge. The Ottoman fortresses built to defend the Bosporus (Rumeli Hisari built by Mehmed II, and
Anadolu Hisari built by
Bayezid I) are frequently depicted. Life on the Bosporus and surrounding seas is portrayed in abundant views of boating, both
for pleasure and
transportation, fishing and fishermen, and by the waterfront residences in both humble villages and the yalis or villas of
wealthy residents. Frequent
depictions of steamers attest to the bustling international shipping and tourist industries.
The collection contains numerous photographs of Turkish "types", including occupational portraits as well as portraits of
representatives of the many
ethnic groups who comprised the greater Ottoman Empire. Costume is an enduring interest, beginning with James Robertson's
rare hand-colored portraits of
women and occupations. The "dame turque" is a prevalent theme. While the occupational portraits are often posed, there are
also numerous genre and
street scenes that include food and dry goods vendors, and small shops such as cobbler's stalls. Agricultural scenes and grain
markets as well as the
tobacco industry represent rural Turkey. While a great many of the people portrayed in the collection are identified by "type"
or ethnicity rather than
name, the collection does contain a good number of portraits of sultans, and named pashas, military leaders, dignitaries and
the middle and upper class
patrons of the numerous portrait studios found in the cities.
Beginning in the late nineteenth century there is an increased representation of historical events that continues into the
early twentieth century.
These range from state visits and ceremonies, to the opening of railways, and to events related to World War I such as the
Battle of Gallipoli and the
Caucasus Campaign, the occupation of Turkey by allied troops after the war, and the formation of the Republic of Turkey.
Over 165 known photographers, studios and publishers are represented in the collection, and the work of dozens of unknown
photographers is also
included. While a great many of the photographers are of European origin, prominent photographers of eastern origin include
the ethnic Armenian Abdullah
brothers, Pascal Sébah of Armenian and Syrian descent, and Ali Sami Aközer, grandson of Halil Kamil Pasha. Such photographers
created images for both
foreign and Ottoman consumption, including the sultans themselves. Studios bearing Greek and Armenian surnames are heavily
represented among the
cartes-de-visites, cabinet cards and other portraits in the collection. Among the other photographers included in the collection
are: Nikolia
Andreomenos; Apollon; Hippolyte Arnoux; Guillaume Berggren; Félix Bonfils; Ernest de Caranza; Jules Delbet; Roger Fenton;
Claude-Marie Ferrier; Frank
Mason Good; Gülmez Frères; V. Hissarlian; M. Iranian; Vassilaki (Basil/Basile) Kargoppoulo; Pow Kee; Gustave Le Gray; G. Lekegian;
Alfred de Moustier;
Félix Nadar; Christian Paier; Phébus Studio (Bogos Tarkulyan); James Robertson working alone or with his partner and brother-in-law
Felice Beato;
Alphonse Rubellin and Rubellin et Fils; Adolphe Saum; Sébah & Joaillier (successors to Pascal Sébah); Alex Svoboda; and Pierre
Trémaux.
Click here for a complete list of known photographers.
The collection includes photographic prints made in the most popular nineteenth-and early twentieth-century photographic media,
as well as in a number
of rare and early techniques. Photographic processes present in the collection include calotype, salted paper, albumen, collodion,
and gelatin silver
prints; photochroms, autochromes, collotypes, tintypes, and opaltypes. Also included are early poitevin prints (lithographs
after photographs).
The photographs are found in various sizes and formats including loose and mounted prints, some from disbound albums; card-mounted
photographs of
various sizes including cartes-de-visite, cabinet cards and boudoir cards; stereographs; glass plate negatives; lantern slides;
photomechanical and real
photo postcards; and panoramas. There are sixty-four photograph albums in the collection.
Throughout the collection titles for individual photographs are taken from the negative, unless otherwise stated. Titles devised
by the catalogers are
in brackets. Titles that contain abbreviations or misspellings appear in their entirety or corrected form in the item level
scope and contents note.
Arrangement note
The collection is arranged in 10 series: Series I. Large format albums, 1852-1920; Series II. Albums of various formats, 1870-1935;
Series III.
Photographs on loose mounts, ca. 1850-1930, undated; Series IV. Panoramas, 1854-1919; Series V. Card mounted photographs,
1851-1909; Series VI.
Tintypes, glass formats and printing blocks, 1890-1900, undated; Series VII. Lantern slides and glass plate negatives, 1850-1910;
Series VIII.
Stereographs, 1850-1910, undated; Series IX. Photojournalism and press photographs, 1904-1958, undated; Series X. Documentation,
1850-1955, undated.
Biographical/Historical Note
Pierre de Gigord, a French business man, is one of seven children born to Colonel François de Gigord and Anne Agnès Thérèse
"Solange" d'Ussel. His
father instilled an early love of travel in the young Gigord. In 1964 en route to a hitchhiking trip to India Gigord stopped
first in Istanbul where an
aunt, Mme. H. de Saint Peine, granddaughter of the founder of the Banque ottomane and régie des tabacs, introduced him to
the city. Fascinated by the
city, Gigord began to make yearly trips to the Bosporus which he financed by importing traditional Turkish crafts, such as
jewelry and textiles, to
France. In 1969 he founded Anastasia, a ready-to-wear folkloric-inspired line of clothing. He further expanded his business
in 2002 with the opening of
the Diwali boutiques specializing in jewelry and accessories from India.
In the 1970s Gigord's travels in the Middle East led him to become interested in the accounts of travel writers and painters
who took Turkey and the
Ottoman Empire as their subject, and he began to collect paintings, prints and books. Bridging Europe and Asia, Istanbul was
for centuries considered
the gateway between western Europe and the East. Although the Ottoman Empire had a long-standing relationship with Western
Europe, the early visual
imagery of Turkey was for the most part highly imaginary until the late eighteenth century publication of Ignatius Mourdgea
d'Ohsson's multi-volume
Tableau général de l'empire ottoman (1787-1820). Only a few decades later Louis Daguerre announced the invention of his
eponymously named photography process (1839), and that same year a French expedition set out to record the east with this
new technology. In 1980,
struck by the "real" of photographic images, as opposed to the "imaginary" of paintings, Gigord began to collect postcards.
He bought his first album of
photographs of Turkey at auction in 1982, and over the next twelve years amassed substantial collections of both postcards
and photographs.
Acquisition Information
Acquired from Pierre de Gigord in 1996. A supplement of 53 photographs, including 16 cartes-de-visite and six views of Istanbul
by James Robertson and
six by Robertson and Beato, was received as a donation from Gigord in late 1996.
Preferred Citation
Pierre de Gigord collection of photographs of the Ottoman Empire and the Republic of Turkey, The Getty Research Institute,
Los Angeles, Accession no.
96.R.14.
http://hdl.handle.net/10020/cifa96r14
Access
Open for use by qualified researchers.
Processing History
Isotta Poggi began the processing and cataloging of the collection from 1996 to 1997. Paul Arenson continued processing and
cataloging the collection
from 2000 to 2002 and created a preliminary and partial finding aid. In the summer of 2009 Emily McKibben created shot lists
for digitization, provided
additional cataloging and reviewed the existing finding aid. Soohyun Yang continued these activities in 2011 and 2012. In
2013 Beth Ann Guynn, with the
assistance of Linda Kleiger and Lilly Tsukahira, completed the processing and cataloging of the collection, revised the existing
finding aid to conform
to current cataloging standards and completed the finding aid.
Publication Rights
Digital collection
Series I-VIII were digitized by the repository in 2019 and are the images are available online:
Series I.: http://hdl.handle.net/10020/96r14s1 Series II.: http://hdl.handle.net/10020/96r14s2 Series III.: http://hdl.handle.net/10020/96r14s3
Series
IV.: http://hdl.handle.net/10020/96r14s4 Series V.: http://hdl.handle.net/10020/96r14s5 Series VI.: http://hdl.handle.net/10020/96r14s6
Series VII.:
http://hdl.handle.net/10020/96r14s7 Series VIII.: http://hdl.handle.net/10020/96r14s8
Subjects and Indexing Terms
Women -- Turkey -- Portraits
Egypt -- Description and travel
India -- Description and travel
Fishing -- Turkey
Architecture, Byzantine -- Turkey -- Istanbul
Turkey -- Antiquities
Boats and boating -- Turkey
Collodion prints -- Turkey -- 20th century
Collodion prints -- Turkey -- 19th century
Turkey -- Kings and rulers
Fortification -- Turkey
Group portraits -- Turkey -- 19th century
Group portraits -- Turkey -- 20th century
Indigenous peoples -- Turkey
Towers -- Turkey
Golden Horn (Turkey) -- Description and travel
Marmara, Sea of (Turkey) -- Description and travel
Black Sea -- Description and travel
Columns -- Turkey
Obelisks -- Turkey
Palaces -- Turkey
Rumeli Hisarı (Istanbul, Turkey : Fortress)
Stereographs -- Turkey -- 19th century
Photograph albums -- Turkey -- 20th century
Photograph albums -- Turkey -- 19th century
Panoramas -- Turkey -- 20th century
Panoramas -- Turkey -- 19th century
Photomechanical prints -- Turkey -- 20th century
Photomechanical prints -- Turkey -- 19th century
Bridges -- Turkey
Gelatin silver prints
İzmir (Turkey) -- Description and travel
Bursa (Turkey) -- Description and travel
Turkey -- Description and travel
World War, 1914-1918 -- Campaigns -- Turkey -- Gallipoli Peninsula
Occupations -- Turkey
Men -- Turkey -- Portraits
Ephesus (Extinct city)
Bosporus (Turkey)
Bombay (India)
Laodicea ad Lycum (Extinct city)
Izmar (Turkey)
Istanbul (Turkey)
Hierapolis (Turkey : Extinct city)
Photographs, Original
Albumen prints -- India -- 19th century
Albumen prints -- Turkey -- 19th century
Albumen prints -- China -- 19th century
Albumen prints -- Egypt -- 19th century
Albumen prints -- Turkey -- 20th century
Salted paper prints -- Turkey -- 19th century
Mosques -- Turkey
Opaltypes -- Turkey -- 19th century
Tintypes -- Turkey -- 19th century
Collotypes -- Turkey -- 20th century
Architecture, Islamic -- Turkey
Collotypes -- Turkey -- 19th century
Albumen prints -- Greece -- 19th century
Gelatin silver prints -- Turkey -- 20th century
Gelatin silver prints -- Turkey -- 19th century
Calotypes -- Turkey -- 19th century
Architecture -- Turkey
Cabinet cards -- Turkey -- 20th century
Cabinet cards -- Turkey -- 19th century
Dry collodion negatives
Cartes-de-visite -- Turkey -- 19th century
Stereographs -- Turkey -- 20th century
Photochroms -- Turkey -- 19th century
Railroads -- Turkey -- Buildings and structures
Autochroms -- Turkey -- 19th century
Hippodrome of Constantinople (Istanbul, Turkey)
Trémaux, P. (Pierre)
Gülmez Frères (Firm)
Bonfils, Félix, 1831-1885
Arnoux, Hippolyte
Lékégian, G.
Robertson & Beato
Svoboda, A. (Alex)
Sébah, Pascal, 1823-1886
Robertson, James, 1813-1888
Sebah & Joaillier
Caranza, Ernest de
Nadar, Félix, 1820-1910
Berggren, G. (Guillaume), 1835-1920
Paier, Christian
Phébus (Firm)
Delbet, Jules
Rubellin, Alphonse
Sébah, Pascal, 1823-1886
Sultanahmet Camii (Istanbul, Turkey)
Dolmabahçe Sarayı
Süleymaniye Camii (Istanbul, Turkey)
Topkapı Sarayı Müzesi
Ayasofya Müzesi