Armenian photography in the late XIX - early XX centuries

In the late XIX - early XX centuries, several expeditions of the Imperial Archaeological Commission were undertaken in the ancient Armenian capitals of Van and Ani.

In addition to historians and archaeologists, the expeditions included photographers Hovhannes Qyurqchyan, Aram and Ara Vrouyr. During the excavations, conducted under the guidance of the historian and archaeologist Nikoghayos Mar, many photographs were taken.

Hovhannes Qyurqchyan was the first Armenian photographer to shoot Ani. His cards collection «Ruins of Armenia: Ani» (Ruines d'Arménie. Ani) was printed in Vienna. Qyurqchyan saw Ani of the Russian-Turkish war period (1877-1878) with his own eyes.  

In 1897, Hovhannes Qyurqchyan moved to Singapore. After living there for a while, he went to the city of Surabaya (Indonesia), where together with the British photographer George Lewis he established a photo studio.

Among the followers of Qyurqchyan, there is Aram Vrouyr - famous Yerevan actor, who together with Nikoghayos Marr participated in 17 archaeological expeditions.

Thanks to Grigor Ter-Ghevondyan's skills (Tiflis photographer), today we can see portraits of famous Armenians: Raffi, Nalbandyan, Sundukyan, Grigor Artsruni, Catholicos Khrimyan Hayrik, generals Lazarev, Ter-Ghukasov, Loris-Melikov.

Perhaps, the most famous and worldly known Armenian photographer of the XX century is Yousuf Karsh (Hovsep Qarshyan). He went down in history as one of the most successful portrait painters. Karsh captured such famous people as Churchill, Eisenhower, Adenauer, Hemingway, Einstein, Sibelius, George Braque, Corbusier, Jung, Stravinsky, Bernard Shaw, and Walt Disney.

Yousuf Karsh, a refugee from Western Armenia, spent most of his life in Canada.

Another Canadian Armenian photographer is Arto Gavukyan, known to the world as Gavuk. He often visited the USSR. He took photos of Leonid Brezhnev, Catholicos Vazgen I, Marshal Bagramyan, Indira Gandhi.

The Egyptian photographer Alban (Aram Arnautian) became famous for taking photos of King of Egypt and Sudan Faruk I, his wife and princesses.

Paul Doumer and Albert Lönbren, French presidents, posed to Hakob Semerchyan.