Spotlight: Who was the Armenian Genocide survivor who founded the first photography studio in Gaza?

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PRESENTER

Lizzy Vartanian

ORIGINAL CITY

London

Original Date

January 21, 2024

DESCRIPTION

Last year Lizzy gave an afikra presentation on how an Armenian priest, Yessai Garabedian, opened the first photography studio in the whole Arab region in a convent in Jerusalem. in the 1860s. The first commercial studio was subsequently opened in the 1880s by one of his protegees, Garabed Krikorian. This deepened her interest in the impact of Armenians and photography in the Arab world. She later came across an article in Vice about an Armenian photographer from Gaza and learned that he opened the very first photography studio in Gaza..

about the afikra community presentations

Delivered and prepared by afikra Community members, the presentation’s goal is to showcase the presenter’s curiosity and research and share some knowledge on a ‎topic related to the Arab world’s histories and cultures. The presentation is the ‎culmination of the afikra coaching process to help identify a topic, find research, and develop the ‎presentation. afikra presentations come in two forms, a long question-driven afikra Feature, and a short afikra FWD with the purpose of sharing something interesting.

SOURCES & FUTURE REFERENCES

• Negatives Come to Life

• Rediscovered Photos of Gaza Reveal a Lesser-Known Side of Its History

• Rediscovering Gaza’s Photographic History

• Kegham Djeghalian, Dar al-Kalima University

• Identity and Memory

• Vice Uses Archive of Gaza’s First Photographer for Zionist Propaganda

• The Armenian photographer who captured life in Gaza on camera

Note: All community presentations are prepared & presented by non-experts on the subject. They are sharing information in the hopes of spurring interest in that subject.

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