Studio Kerop was probably the last of Cairo’s old photography studios to close its doors at the very end of the 20th century. It was established by Hakob (Agop) Keropian in the mid 1940s. The studio’s output was quite typical of the general aesthetic conventions of Egyptian commercial photography of the time. Keropian however, was also an avid photo-journalist and he has photographed numerous important events during the 1950s through to 1970s. His snapshot-style photographs of Cairo’s chaotic life are not particularly polished, but represent a fascinating and important slice of history to us today. After Hakob’s death, his son Nubar ran the studio until its closure.

Vigen Galstyan, 2016