Ohannes Kurkdjian

Ohannes (Onnes) Kurkdjian
Black and white portrait of a middle-ages man wearing a white helmet
Kurkdjian on the edge of the Sand Sea (Lautan Pasir) in the Tengger Mountains (c. 1910)
Born1851
Yerevan, Russian Empire
Died1903
Surabaya, Dutch East Indies
Known forPhotography
Ohannes Kurkdjian on the edge of the Sand Sea (Lautan Pasir) in the Tengger Mountains – circa 1910. Stereophotograph.

Ohannes Kurkdjian (first name sometimes spelled Onnes, Armenian spelling Hovhannes, 1851–1903) was a photographer based in Yerevan, Tiflis, Singapore and then Surabaya during the Dutch East Indies era.

His namesake business (located at Bultzingslowenplein) was the studio Kurkdjian Atelier and later O. Kurkdjian & Co.

Life and work

Kurkdjian was born in Kyurin, (Gürun), Ottoman Empire

He produced stereoscopic images of Ani.[1] He worked for another photographer in Singapore for two months and moved to Surabaya, where he eventually established his own studio.[1][2]

His namesake business (located at Bultzingslowenplein) was Kurkdjian Atelier and later O. Kurkdjian & Co. It grew to employ at least 30 people,[2] one of whom was Thilly Weissenborn, the first significant Indonesian-born female photographer.[3] The studio produced portraits including of Pakoe Boewono X Susuhunan van Solo as well as landscapes, business, building and trade photographs.

In 1897, Kurkdjian was joined by Englishman G. P. Lewis.[2] Lewis took over the business after Kurkdjian's death in 1903 (in Surabaya, Indonesia).[2] The studio was acquired by Mieling & Co., a pharmaceutical company, in 1915.[2]

A famous photograph of Kurkdjian shows him standing behind his tripod-mounted camera photographing a volcano.[2]

Gallery

  • Kurkdjian studio in Surabaya in a building with other businesses
    Kurkdjian studio in Surabaya in a building with other businesses
  • Sugarcane being transported by oxcart
    Sugarcane being transported by oxcart
  • Wayang wong performers
    Wayang wong performers
  • Studio portrait of a woman
    Studio portrait of a woman
  • Pakoe Boewono X Susuhunan van Solo
    Pakoe Boewono X Susuhunan van Solo
  • Borobudur
    Borobudur
  • Bales being shipped from the sugarcane factory
    Bales being shipped from the sugarcane factory
  • Mount Kelud crater circa 1901
    Mount Kelud crater circa 1901
  • Mount Bromo circa 1920
    Mount Bromo circa 1920
  • Hillside with people photograph
    Hillside with people photograph
  • Women doing batik
    Women doing batik
  • Boats anchored at Tjilatjap (Cilacap)
    Boats anchored at Tjilatjap (Cilacap)
  • Outside the Kurkdjian photo studio
    Outside the Kurkdjian photo studio
  • Semeroe volcano in 1897
    Semeroe volcano in 1897
  • A sixteen meter deep mudslide at Redjosari after the eruption of the Kelud volcano
    A sixteen meter deep mudslide at Redjosari after the eruption of the Kelud volcano
  • Personnel of Atelier Kurkdjian, Surabaya, 1916
    Personnel of Atelier Kurkdjian, Surabaya, 1916

References

  1. ^ a b Stereoscopic photographs of Ani
  2. ^ a b c d e f Onnes Kurkdjian; Viewmaker and Entrepreneur by Hedi Hinzler
  3. ^ Haks, Leo (August 2007). "Indonesian photography collection 1860s–1940s". NGA Australia. Canberra, Australia: National Gallery of Australia. Archived from the original on 5 March 2010. Retrieved 10 May 2016.
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Ohannes Kurkdjian.

External links

  • Collection of Kurkdjian photographs from "Come to Java" on Flickr
  • (in Dutch) Armenians in colonial Indonesia
  • Photographs by Kurkdjian on YouTube
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