Studio Vart, located on the El Ahram Avenue in Cairo's Heliapolis district was one of the more successful photographic pavilions in Egypt during the first half of the 20^th century. Based on the existing photographs, it can be assumed that the studio was established in the early mid-1930s. Vart’s customers were mainly representatives of Cairo's European, Armenian and other Christian communities who commissioned portraits for every occasion, including weddings, engagements, promotional campaigns and head shots.

The studio’s production followed the traditional tropes of ‘high’ modernist visual culture with its even lighting schemes and elegant compositions. With their subdued aesthetic effects, Vart’s photographs differed from the more theatrical and informal approaches to studio portraiture, which would become prevalent in Egyptian photography after the 1940s. Due in part to its classicist and formally conservative practice, Vart survived right until the end of 2010. Despite the longevity of the business, we have not been able to clarify the biographical background of its founder.

Vigen Galstyan, 2016