Abstract

Akkasah's collection from Turkey was assembled by Özge Calafato, formerly the Project Manager for the Center and currently researching the photographic cultures of Turkish modernity. Gathered from markets and antique shops in Istanbul and Izmir between 2014-2016, the collection includes over 16,000 images from the late Ottoman era and the modern Turkish republic, with over 4,900 currently online. The collection is comprised primarily of amateur photographs from family albums and of individual and group portraits taken in various studios across Turkey. The collection offers a fascinating glimpse into the daily life of a rapidly Westernizing society. Though many date back to the first decade of the twentieth century and some are from as late as the 1970s and 1980s, to core of the collection focuses on the period from the 1920s through to the end of the 1950s. As such, the Akkasah collection offers a fascinating glimpse into the daily life of a rapidly Westernizing society, and provides a fresh perspective on the nation-building process seen through the lens of daily and private life. Photography in Turkey dates back to the 1840s. Initially promoted by studios such as those of Abdullah Frères, and Sabah and Joaillier, photography quickly became popular and widespread throughout the country: this is evident in the rapid rise in the number of photographic studios in many Turkish cities in the late years of the Ottoman Empire and in the growth of vernacular photograph in the years following the founding of the Republic in 1923. Though many date back to the first decade of the twentieth century and some are from as late as the 1970s and 1980s, the core of the collection focuses on the period from the 1920s through to the end of the 1950s. As such, the Akkasah collection offers a fascinating glimpse into the daily life of a rapidly Westernizing society, and provides a fresh perspective on the nation-building process seen through the lens of daily and private life. The Akkasah Turkey collection also contains a substantial number of orientalist postcards from major Ottoman cities including Istanbul, Cairo, Alexandria, Port Said, Damascus and Beirut.