Arshak Sedefgian's photography studio was located on 27 Rue Idjadie in Istanbul’s Üsküdar district. It was one of the more prominent photographic businesses in the ‘Asian’ part of the city at the end of the 19th century. The majority of Sedefdjian’s clients were from the middle-class citizenry of Constantinople. On the basis of Sedefgjian’s French and Armenian-language seals, we can deduce that the photographer targeted primarily the local Armenian population and the European emigres. After the 1894-96 Hamidian massacres of the Ottoman-Armenian population, Sedefdjian had moved to Cyprus, then to Cairo, where he successfully continued his career. Sedefdjian’s numerous photographs permit us to conclude that this institution survived at least in the mid-1920s at which point the studio was undoubtedly run by an heir or a relative. The studio's portraits are masterfully photographed, often with a strong emphasis on the social standing of the sitters.

Vigen Galstyan, 2016