1037
large number of prisoners to commemorate the 25th
anniversary of his accession to the throne, he had pho-
tographs taken of the inmates in prisons throughout
the country.
In 1893 the sultan sent photograph albums to the
president of the United States and the monarchs of
Britain and France to promote the country’s image
(Özendes, 1995, 28).
In the nineteenth century photography was added
to the curriculum of the Imperial School of Military
Engineering. Graduates in art from this school who
had become photographers were employed to teach the
new subject. Among them were Ali Rıza Bey (?–1907),
Ali Sami Aközer (1866–1936), Captain Hüsnü Bey
(1844–1896) and Ahmed Emin (1845–1892).
Ali Sami Bey, one of the military photographers
appointed by Sultan Abdulhamid II, took photographs
documenting the 1898 state visit of Kaiser Wilhelm II,
who from Istanbul traveled to Jerusalem. Ali Sami Bey
presented an album of these photographs to the sultan.
Garabet Krikorian of Jerusalem also took photographs
of the kaiser’s journey (Özendes, 1989).
Adjutant Major Mehmet Hüsnü (1861–?), Bahriyeli
Ali Sami and Fahrettin Türkkan Pasha (1868–1948)
were among the photographers graduated from other
military schools who were employed by the palace
(Özendes, 1989).
Baghdad’s most eminent photographer Z. G. Do-
natossian took photographs of every offi cial inaugura-
tion, while Sadık Bey’s photographs of Mecca were the
fi rst of the holy city ever to be taken (Özendes, 1995).
In Persia the fi rst Daguerreotype was a portrait of 13
year old Prince Nasar-od-din Mirza taken during the
reign of Muhammed Shah Qajar (r. 1834–1848) by the
Russian diplomat Nikolaj Pavlov in 1842.
A photographic laboratory established in the royal
palace by Muhammed Shah refl ects the growing interest
in photography, which had been introduced by western
visitors to Persia. This laboratory could be described as
the fi rst offi cial studio (Tahmasbpoor, 2004).
Engin Özendes
See also: Kargopoulo, Basile (Vasili); Berggren,
Guillaume (Wilhelm); and Abdullah Frères
(Abdullahian Brothers), Whichen, Kevork and
Hovsep.
Further Reading
Özendes, Engin. Photography in the Ottoman Empire 1839–1919,
1st edn. Istanbul: Haşet, 1987 2nd edn. Istanbul: İletişim,
1995.
——. Photographer Ali Sami 1866–1936 İstanbul: Haşet Pub-
lications, 1989
——. Abdullah Frères: Ottoman Court Photographers, Istanbul:
Yapı Kredi Publications, 1998
——. From Sébah & Joaillier to Foto Sabah: Orientalism in
Photography Istanbul: Yapı Kredi, 1999
Öztuncay, Bahattin. James Robertson, Istanbul: Eren, 1992
Öztuncay, Bahaattin. Vasilaki Kargopoulo, Istanbul: BOS A.Ş.
2000)
Tahmasbpoor, Mohammad Reza, Tehran: 2004
Wigh, Leif. Photographic Views of the Bosphorus and Constan-
tinople Stockholm: Fotografi ska Museet, 1984OTTOMAN EMPIRE: EUROPEAN
(BULGARIA, SERBIA, MACEDONIA,
ALBANIA, AND BOSNIA)Albania
Three generations of photographers from the Marubbi
family represent the core of the history of photography
in Albania. The fi rst, Pjetër Marubbi (1834–1903) or
Pietro Marubbi, an architect, painter, sculptor and pho-
tographer, was born in Piacenza, Italy, and as a member
of Garibaldi’s movement, came to Albania where he in
1864 founded the fi rst studio for photography in the
town Shkodra. The Studio Marubbi, as it was printed
on the reverses of his cartes-de-visite, which worked
until 1890, was specialized both for portrait-making
and for photographic documentation of the famous
marketplace (bazaar) in Shkodra. With remarkable suc-
cess and greatest attention he documented city-scenes,
as well as the scenes of fi shermen’s lives. When shoot-
ing landscapes, he chose the panoramic aspect, whilst
in documenting the scenes of old urban settlements
he sometimes boldly shortened the perspective. Some
carte-de-visite portraits by Pietro Marubbi look like salt
prints, but they are made on albumen paper. Many are
hand-colored and varnished. Marubbi published some
of his photographs on life and customs in Albania in the
magazine “Illustracione Italiana.” Later on, in the 20th
century, his photographs were often used as illustrations
in many books about Albania. They were motives on the
fi rst postcards and many other reproductions.
The second generation of Marubbi photographers is
represented by brothers Mati and Kel Kodheli, Pjetër
Marubbi’s adopted sons. It was Kel who took over the
Studio, because Mati died young (1862–1881). Kel
Marubbi (1870–1940) documented, as a good reporter,
all the important events and persons involved in the
movement for liberation of Albania from the Ottoman
Empire. Especially important are his reports about the
mountainous regions where he took photographs of
anonymous peasants and shepherds as well as interesting
folklore types. Around 1900, the Studio Marubbi was,
according to the print reverses on the photographs, the
offi cial photographer for the Montenegrin royal family
Petrović in Cetinje.