In 1954, the noted photographer Aram Alban hired a young woman named Shake to work as a retoucher and a general assistant at the Alban studio in Cairo. Very quickly Shake became Alban’s right-hand person and would eventually take the reigns of the business. They were not merely colleagues but also life companions. In order for Shake to become his legitimate heir, the childless, 71 year old photographer married her in 1954. It would be safe to presume that Shake authored most of the photographs taken in the Alban studio from mid 1950s onwards. After Alban’s demise in 1961, she would add her name to studio, which remained open until Shake’s retirement in the mid 1980s.

As noted by Maria Golia, Shake ‘is the first woman on record to have owned and operated a photographic establishment in Egypt.’ Her approach as a photographer was more subdued and subtle than that of her mentor. Her portraits are gently lit, less theatrical and glamorous than those by Alban. Shake was particularly in demand as a wedding and child photographer as proven by many of her surviving images of newlywed couples and toddlers.

Vigen Galstyan, 2016