The Engin Ozendes collection includes 315 iconic photographs taken by some of the most prominent photographers and photography studios who documented the last days of the Ottoman Empire and the early Republic period, including Abdullah Freres, Basile Kargapoulo, Zangaki, Sebah & Joaillier, Pascal Sebah, Derounian Freres, Othmar Pferschy, M. Iranian, Berggren, and Arif Hikmet Koyunoglu. The majority of the photographs, all of which are prints, date from the 1890s to 1910s.

The collection's studio photographs, from various places within the boundaries of modern-day Turkey, Syria, Iraq, Lebanon, Egypt, Greece, Palestine and Israel, present people as everything from simply children and parents, brides and grooms, to prominent military, religious and political figures. Historically significant moments related to both cultural events and military campaigns are represented as well as candid views of street life in cities and towns. The collection depicts the art and architecture from mosques and other religious and archaeological sites from throughout the region, revealing details that in some cases no longer exist, or exist in a different form today.