Sébah&Joaillier® photography

There are only a limited number of books and articles concerning the Sébah&Joaillier photography studio. It is well known that all of these valuable works aim to shed light on history, to commemorate and understand the past through photographs, and to preserve knowledge.

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My interest in genealogy, and especially the fact that the Joaillier side of my family has been relatively little studied, has given me the desire in recent years to share both my research and my large physical and digital collection of Sébah&Joaillier photographs that I have assembled.

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Our family archive, consulates, churches, cemeteries and other sources of information have been the tools that supported me in compiling the brief historical overview on this website. More extensive information, as well as some photographs from the family archive that have not yet been published, appear in my collection book.

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As the fifth-generation direct great-grandson of Polycarpe Joaillier, I undertake this work in order to keep his memory and the studio’s legacy alive.

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Let’s always remember Pascal Sébah’s words that left a lasting mark on the history of photography:

"Thanks to the magic of light, the beloved is the light that never disappears"

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Fabrizio Casaretto

 

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Following the first image taken in 1826 by the Frenchman Nicéphore Niépce, photography advanced rapidly. The world’s first photographic studios opened in France in the 1840s. At that time, photography appealed only to the middle and upper classes due to its high cost. With the development of transportation and the emergence of itinerant photographers, this blend of commerce and art spread rapidly throughout the world.

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The invention of photography was announced in the Ottoman Empire in the Takvim-i Vekayi newspaper, issue no. 186 dated 28 October 1839. Especially following the Tanzimat reforms of 1839, few itinerants soon settled in Ottoman lands. It was a period when approximately half of Istanbul’s population consisted of non-Muslims. With the mystery of the Ottoman world and orientalism blending with the charm and fascination for the unknown, the early and rapid development of photography in these lands became inevitable.

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The first photographic attempts in the Ottoman Empire began with the 1842 travels of Kompa, a student of the Frenchman Daguerre, the inventor of the daguerreotype camera; however, no surviving visual examples are known today. The oldest known image from the Ottoman lands is accepted as a photograph dated 1843, taken from the Bayezid Tower by Joseph Philibert Girault de Prangey.

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The district where western-style life developed was Pera, today’s İstiklal Avenue and its surroundings. Along the street formerly known as Grande Rue de Pera or Cadde-i Kebir, many photographic studios opened starting from 1850.

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In addition to a few foreigners arriving from Europe, Ottoman citizens of Greek, Armenian, Levantine and Syriac origin also showed interest in this commercial art. They trained themselves by studying abroad or apprenticing in established studios, and in time some opened their own studios.

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One of these studios, which survived for more than a century and is described by historians as the most famous of the Ottoman period and the most powerful representative of orientalism, was the Sébah&Joaillier photography studio.

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Founded in 1857 by Pascal Sébah and his brother Cosmi, this studio remained in operation until 1974, when it finally closed under the name Foto Sabah.

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Pascal Sébah was born in Istanbul in 1823 to a Syriac father and an Armenian Catholic mother. Together with his older brother Cosmi, he developed an interest in the new invention of photography. The two brothers opened their first studio on 18 May 1857 at Tomtom Street no.10 in Pera under the name “P. Sébah – Société Photographique.” Although not officially mentioned, it is known that a French photographer named Antoine Laroche assisted them for several years.

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In the early 1860s they opened a branch at Grande Rue de Pera no.232, while the Tomtom studio continued as a printing and negative workshop. In 1866, when they opened another branch at Jardin des Fleurs, located between the British Embassy and the Naum Theatre, they transferred the premises at no.232 to another photographer of Italian origin, Tancrède Dumas. In 1868, a large shop and studio followed at no.439 on the same street, next to the former Russian Embassy, today the Russian Consulate. This spacious and magnificent location was first recorded under the name “El Chark – Société Photographique.”

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The Jardin des Fleurs studio was completely destroyed in the great Beyoğlu fire of 1870, and a vast treasury of visual archive was lost.

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In 1873, the brothers opened a branch in Cairo, Egypt. The same year, Pascal Sébah increased his prestige by photographing 74 images for the book “Elbise-i Osmaniye” (Costumes Populaires de la Turquie), prepared by Osman Hamdi Bey and Marie de Launey for the Vienna World Exhibition.

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In 1875, Cosmi opened his own studio and the brothers’ partnership ended. However, apart from portrait photography, Cosmi was unable to produce major works that would secure his place in history.

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In 1881, another fire destroyed many works in the Tomtom studio. Just as recovery was on the way, important archives were once again damaged. Physically and mentally exhausted, Pascal Sébah began to fall ill frequently and moved to Cairo for a time in the same year. In 1883, he suffered a stroke that left him paralyzed and unable to work. His son Jean was only 11 years old, and Cosmi stepped in once more.

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At this stage, the name Polycarpe Joaillier (1848–1904) began to appear in historical records. His father Antoine was born in Istanbul and his mother Catherine in Aleppo. Although there is no definitive information about his grandfather Joseph, it is stated that he was a Levantine who, after the French Revolution of 1789, left France—where he practiced the jewelry trade from which the family surname derives— and settled in Aleppo, then later moved to Istanbul.

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The Sébah and Joaillier families were close friends. While some aspects are documented, others are inferred. When Polycarpe was only seven years old, his father Antoine died in 1855 at the age of 33, leaving two younger sons as well. Since there was no remaining generation capable of practicing the jewelry trade, the family lost its source of income. Family friend Pascal Sébah took the Joaillier family under his protection. At least part of the Joaillier family lived on one floor of the building at no. 439 where the studio was located. In his spare time, Polycarpe learned photography from Sébah and developed his skills. The closeness of the families was such that Pascal Sébah served as one of the witnesses at Polycarpe Joaillier’s wedding on 28 August 1879 at the Church of the Nativity in Büyükdere, Istanbul—long before their partnership began.

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After Pascal Sébah became paralyzed, he and his wife offered a partnership to Polycarpe Joaillier, whom they regarded almost as their own son and trusted to support their children Josephina, Jean, and Joseph, and who had greatly advanced his photographic skills. Polycarpe accepted the offer from the man who had protected his family and taught him the profession. Thus, in 1885, the foundations of the Sébah&Joaillier partnership, which would revolutionize Ottoman photography and orientalism, were laid.

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While Sébah was unable to work due to illness, Joaillier’s active role in the studio quickly became apparent. It is thought that Joaillier stood behind photographs signed “Sébah” during the period when Pascal Sébah was bedridden. The stylistic similarities between Sébah and Joaillier’s photographs can be interpreted as the continuation of a Sébah school. Just one year later, in 1886, Pascal Sébah passed away.

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The first major success of the Sébah&Joaillier partnership came in 1888 with the presentation of a special Brousse (Bursa) album to the Palace. Thanks to this enormous and heavy album—only two copies of which are known today—they were awarded the third-class Order of the Medjidie.

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In 1889, during an Istanbul visit, German Emperor Kaiser Wilhelm II granted the title of Prussian Court Photographer to the Sébah&Joaillier studio after they photographed him and his wife.

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In 1893, Sultan Abdülhamid.II sent several photographic albums to the United States, England and France as part of Ottoman propaganda efforts. Two of these albums were prepared by Sébah&Joaillier, who received the title Ottoman Palace Photographer.

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In 1899, their rivals, the famous Abdullah Frères studio, could no longer withstand the competition in Pera and sold their archives to Sébah&Joaillier for 1,200 liras, transferring their studio. After this date, some photographs appeared with two different signatures.

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In 1904, Polycarpe Joaillier died in Istanbul. The sons of the two founders—Jean Sébah returning from Egypt, and Gustave and Edmond Joaillier—made efforts to keep the studio alive for a while.

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In 1909, architect Antonio Perpignani took over the company and appointed Hagop İskender as managing director. At this stage, the organic connection between the Sébah and Joaillier families and the studio came to an end. Perpignani died just one year later, in 1910, leaving the studio to Hagop İskender.

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In 1934, Hagop’s son Bedros joined the business, and İsmail İnsel became a partner. In 1938, the studio adopted the name Foto Sabah.

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In 1952, after a brief period in a temporary shop at Galatasaray Square, the studio moved once again in Beyoğlu, opposite to the Atlas Passage.

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In 1974, the studio closed after 117 years of history.

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Pascal Sébah was a master not only of cityscapes but also of theatrical portraits. His meeting with Osman Hamdi Bey in 1869 marked an important milestone in his career. The painter used photographs taken of himself in the studio as references for some of his drawings. After Pascal Sébah’s death, his brother Cosmi briefly participated in the partnership, while his son Jean was still very young and only at the apprentice stage. Therefore, it can be said that this partnership was essentially between the Sébah family and Polycarpe Joaillier rather than Pascal Sébah himself. Jean generally managed the Cairo branch and lived in Egypt for a period; he signed his photographs as J.P.Sébah, the “P” referring to his father Pascal. It is understood that the vast majority of photographs signed Sébah&Joaillier were in fact produced by Polycarpe Joaillier.

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Both photographers are buried in the Latin Catholic Cemetery of Pangalti in Istanbul.

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Only one known photograph of Polycarpe Joaillier existed, showing him proudly wearing the third-class Order of the Medjidie at his grave. Another portrait photograph was discovered in the family archive and published for the first time in the collection book.

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An image of Pascal Sébah appears in a book by Bahattin Öztuncay. In a photograph taken in front of the Fountain of Ahmed III at the entrance of Topkapi Palace, the bearded man wearing a hat and dressed in western-style clothing is identified as him.