National Association for Armenian Studies and Research
395 Concord Avenue
Belmont, MA 02478
Tel.: 617-489-1610
E-mail: [email protected]
Contact: Marc A. Mamigonian

LECTURE ON OTTOMAN ARMENIAN PHOTOGRAPHS IN GETTY MUSEUM ON DEC. 3

Van Aroian of Worcester, MA, will give an illustrated lecture on “A
World in Transition: Armenians in the Ottoman Photographs Collection of
the Getty Museum,” at the Ararat-Eskijian Museum, 15105 Mission Hills
Road, Mission Hills, CA, on Sunday, December 3, at 3:30 p.m.

The lecture will be co-sponsored by the Museum and the National
Association for Armenian Studies and Research (NAASR).

The Getty Museum in Los Angeles, California, houses the Getty Research
Library, which contains an impressive collection of Ottoman
photographs.  This collection is an invaluable resource for Ottoman scholars,
ethnographers, historians of Ottoman photography, and students of Armenian
Ottoman life.  Furthermore, this collection provides a valuable
resource for an investigator interested in developing the significant
contribution of Armenian photographers to the early development of photography
throughout the Ottoman Empire.

The program will provide a visual presentation and sampling of the
Ottoman photo collection at the Getty Research Institute, with a focus on
its Armenian flavor and contributions.  On a fundamental level this
collection provides investigators with a rare opportunity actually to see
aspects of Ottoman life and culture – a presentation of a world in
transition captured for succeeding generations.  These photos will provide
us the opportunity to walk down memory lane and share together some
social and historic commentary.

Van Aroian spent some six weeks in 1999-2001 looking through the
Getty’s Ottoman photograph collection.  He first presented the results of his
investigations into the Getty’s collection in an article in NAASR’s
Journal of Armenian Studies (vol. 7, no.1, Fall-Winter 2002-2003) entitled
“Ottoman Photographs at the J. Paul Getty Research Institute: Armenian
Themes and Contributions.”  There he offered an overview of the
collection and provided detailed analyses of several photographs of direct or
indirect relevance to the Armenians.

More information on Aroian’s lecture may be had by calling
617-489-1610, by fax at 617-484-1759, by e-mail at [email protected], or by writing to
NAASR, 395 Concord Ave., Belmont, MA 02478; or by contacting the
Ararat-Eskijian Museum at 818-838-4862 or by e-mail at
[email protected].