According to photography historian Engin Özendes, Garabed Amiraian learnt his craft by apprenticing at Nikolai Andreomenos’ famous studio.(1) He opened his own establishment in 1900, in the Istanbul’s Bayazit district, and in 1905 moved to Üsküdar area where he worked until his death. Amiraian was assisted in his work by his daughter Artemis and son Jirayr. The studio mainly made individual and group portraits and does not appear to have produced photographs in any other genres. The intrinsic value of Amiraian’s photographs today is socio-cultural one, as the studio’s clientele was primarily made up of middle and lower class residents of Istanbul from diverse ethnic backgrounds.

1) Engin Özendes, Photography in the Ottoman Empire, 1839-1919, Haşet Kitabevi, Istanbul, 1987, p.150

Vigen Galstyan, 2016