Movses Hallajian's eponymous studio operated in the Armenian-populated town of Ayntap, until 1915. The established was closed or perhaps destroyed during the Genocide. It is assumed that Halajyan escaped to Great Britain and settled in the city of Scarborough, where he worked until the 1930s. (1) Most probably Hallajian's brother is J. H Halajyan, who moved to Palestine in the 1910s and also worked there as a photographer. No other biographical details have been found. Amidst the few known photographs by Movses Hallajian there is a portrait of an Armenian freedom-fighter named Heghine, which is of unique historical significance.(2) The portrait of this gun-touting female anarchist is an indication that Haladjian symphatised and possibly had connections with the Armenian national liberation movement in Cilicia and Western Armenia.

(1) http://www.arthurlloyd.co.uk/Scarborough.htm
(2) According to Vahe Habeshian, Heghine was the wife of the famous ‘fidayi’ Gevorg Chaush. See Vahe Habeshian, 'The Woman in the Wall', Armenian Weekly, online edition, December 11, 2013

Vigen Galstyan, 2016