Aşil Samancı | Achilles Samancı, the son of painter and decorator Yakob Samancı, first worked as a painter with his father and learned photography at the Abdullah Brothers' workshop. He gave photography lessons in the Palace, which he entered through them, also took photographs of Sultan Abdulhamid Han and participated in some of Mehmet Reşat's trips.
He also took many photographs of the German emperor Kaiser Wilhelm and the mother of Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, Zübeyde Hanım.
Gulmez Freres
Gülmez Brothers, who opened a studio in Beyoğlu in 1870, became the palace photographer of Sultan Abdulhamid. Yervant, Artin, Kirkor Gülmez shot portraits and rural images of Istanbul. The brothers' work, especially on Istanbul, was of high quality, so they were commissioned by Sultan Abdulhamid to take panoramic pictures of Istanbul to be sent to the international photography exhibition held in Chicago, USA in 1893.
(Pictured: Kasımpaşa / Gulmez Fréres)
They ended the partnership by transferring their studios to photographer Achilles (Achille) Samancı in the early 1900s.
Engin Ozendes Collection of Ottoman photography
New York University Abu Dhabi Library
Collection processed by Akkasah: Center for Photography NYUAD
January 19, 2015 | Gulderen Bölük | foto bellek
Born as the son of a painter father, Achilles Samancı chooses a Greek god as a name for his photography studio, which he founded in the last years of the Ottoman Period; Apollo. Greek mythology, which was among the subjects of painting at that time, also shows its influence in the field of photography. Extremely successful works of Achilles Samancı, who chose Apollo, the god of fine arts, poetry and light, as his name, reveal his knowledge in the field of painting. It is already known that photographers and painters often came together and did joint work in the photography shops of the period. So much so that the painters do not neglect to indicate the name of the workshop where they work while signing their works. In the portrait of Sultan Reşat 5 by Simon Agopian, which is in the military museum today, the name Atelier Apollon is also mentioned next to the artist's signature.[1]
There are many painters who exhibit their works in the showcases of their studios and offer them for sale, as well as the photographers who visit the painting workshops. Kosmi Sébah, brother of Pascal Sebah, one of our important photographers, opens a studio in his name in Beyoğlu in 1875, after working with his brother for fifteen years. In addition to the photo shoots here, he also sells the paintings of painters from Istanbul.[2] Abdullah Brothers also exhibit paintings by artists such as Osman Hamdi Bey, Sarkis Direnyan and Chlebowski in the shop window. In the pictures made by O. Kürkciyan in the Febüs (Phebüs) photography studio at the beginning of the 20th century, the name Febüs is also included with his own name. Another example is the advertisement in Ernest Mamboury's Constantinople Guide Touristique. Here, there is information that oil, pastel and watercolor artistic portraits were made by enlarging the photograph in the Sébah and Joaillier photography studio.[3]
Achilles Samancı was born in Istanbul in 1870, during this period when painting and photography were intertwined. When he grows up, he works with his father, Jacques Samancı, for a while. Later, he entered the studio of Abdullah Brothers, one of the most famous studios of the Ottoman Period, and learned photography. Samancı, who managed to enter the palace with the advice of the Abdullah Brothers, whose reputation has spread beyond our borders, gives photography lessons to the princes. Cevat Pasha, who wrote the ten-volume Military History and was an amateur in photography, is among the names that Achilles Samancı gave lectures.
II. Having shot various portraits of Abdülhamit, Samancı also took many photographs of Sultan Mehmet V. Reşat, both during his reign and during his reign. He also documented the Sultan's trips to Bursa, Hereke and Rumelia.[4] Another important work he did; It is a day-to-day documenting of the events of 1908-1909 (March 31 Incident). L'Illustration magazine also published a photograph of itself about the events in its issue dated 8 May 1909. In this photograph of Samancı, there are suspects wanted in front of the wall and two cars used in the bombing of their barracks.[5]
Although the exact year the studio was opened is not known, we can say that it operated in Beyoğlu in the early 1900s, based on the beautiful portrait photographs reflected in the auction catalogues and various newspaper advertisements. Many issues of the Musavver Newspaper from 1908 feature the introduction of the photography studio.[6]
The Apollon Photography House and the name of Achilles Samancı first appear in the Ottoman trade annals in 1915. In the yearbooks of 1921, his name is mentioned together with Gülmez Brothers, one of the important studios of the period. We can say that they have entered into a joint work at the address number 397 in Grand Rue de Pera. Also, based on these annuals, we can say that the Laughing Brothers used to run a studio at this address. As a second address in the yearbook of the same date, it is seen that they also traded photographic materials with the Gülmez Brothers at the 10th place of Kabristan Street.
Among the photographs taken by Achilles Samancı, German Emperor II. Thousands of negative artists, including Wilhem, were taken to Athens. After his death on October 27, 1942, about a thousand were transferred to his son-in-law, E. Dalleggio d'Aalessio.[7]
references
[1] Germaner, Semra-İnankur, Zeynep. The Istanbul of the Orientalists, İşbank, Istanbul, 2002, p.294
[2] Öztuncay, Photographers of Dersaadet, p.272
[3] Germaner- Inankur, ibid, p.291
[4] Reşat Ekrem Koçu, Istanbul Encyclopedia, Istanbul, 1959, vol:2, p. 887
[5] Company, Gülderen. Photography Magazine, Photo Memory, August-September 2014
[6] Company, Gülderen. Photo Journal, Photo Memory, Issue:
[7] Bölük Gülderen, 100 Photographers of Istanbul, Kültür AŞ. s. Istanbul, 2009
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