Marsoobian holding an original glass negative of the photo below — one of 600 in Marsoobian’s possession (Photo: southernct.edu/Armen T. Marsoobian) The Armenian Museum of America (ALMA) recently announced that it is pleased to welcome back Professor Armen Marsoobian for a Gallery Talk on his exhibit,“Reimagining A Lost Homeland,” at 3 p.m. on March 4. The talk, and “The Presence of Absence: The Role of Photography in the Lives of Ottoman Armenians,” is co-sponsored by Project SAVE Armenian Photograph Archives and will explore the uses of professional photography for the Armenians living in the Ottoman Empire. Marsoobian’s book, Fragments of a Lost Homeland: Remembering Armenia will be available for purchase during the event and a reception will be held at the conclusion of the talk. Photography was introduced into the Anatolian interior and the Armenian plateau in the 1870’s. This was at the beginning of a period that would sign great demographic change for the region, and particularly among its non-Muslim communities. As was the case throughout the Ottoman Empire,professional photography in these regions was dominated by Armenian and, to a lesser extent, or Greek photographers. Yet the historically dominant view of Ottoman photography is based upon the over-sized role played [...]
Source: armenianweekly.com