The first Turkish photographers in the Ottoman Empire worked in provincialcities such as Salonika and Izmir.

 The first Turkish photographer who opened a studio in Istanbul(at number 59 Cagaoglu Hill) was Bahaeddin Bey. He had first opened a studioin Crete, then moved to Izmir where he opened the Resne Studio. Subsequentlyhe left this studio in the hands of a relative, Hamza Rustem Bey, and settledin Istanbul, where he changed his name from Bahaeddin Baritki to RahmizadeBahaeddin.

 Although numerous Turkish photography studios opened in Istanbulin later years, none was to be as long lived or famous as that establishedby Ferit Ibrahim Bey. Ferit Ibrahim Bey devoted 53 years of his life tothis new art, as both newspaper and war photographer, not to mention hiswork as a cinema operator, painter and musician.

This artistic man of many talents also founded the first photographyclub in Turkey, the headquarters of which was the beer hall in Istanbul'sSirkeci Station, on 9 September 1908 following the second proclamationof the constitutional government.

He studied painting under the famous Turkish artist, Hoca Ali Riza Beyand painted landscapes in oils and watercolors. Between 1908 and 1910 hefounded the Venus Music Society, which still exists today in Uskudar andwas one of the founders of the Oriental Music Society in Kadikoy.

 Ferit Ibrahim was born in Uskudar in 1882. His father IbrahimBey, a government official in Damascus, died when he was a young child.After graduating from secondary school in Uskudar, Ferit Bey studied law,going on to receive his doctorate.

Although he was appointed to a post at the Council of State, his loveof art, photography and music proved overwhelming, and he resigned. FeritIbrahim Bey's mother, Asiye Hanim, played a significant role in her son'sdecision to become a professional photographer when she bought him a cameraas a reward for his high grades at school when he was 16 years old.

Ferit Bey ordered magazines and books from abroad about photographyand so kept up with the latest developments in this rapidly advancing technique.His photographs were published in such famous early 20th century Turkishmagazines as "Sehbal", "Resimli Kitap" and "Yeni Gazete", and in some Europeanmagazines.

 Soon his photography business was doing so well that he decidedto open a studio. As the wars in Tripoli and the Balkans drew to a closehe moved his equipment from his house to premises in Sirkeci, oppositethe main post office. When he joined the fighting in Galicia as a militaryphotographer during the First World War, he closed the studio.

 In 1919, he opened a new studio in Beyoglu, where there was alreadya number of photographers all non-Muslims.

 In 1925, two years after the establishment of the Turkish Republic,Ferit Ibrahim Bey was invited to Ankara, the new Turkish capital. CemilUybadin, a friend of Mustafa Kemal Ataturk from his home town Salomea andthe war college, introduced him to Ataturk and proposed that he make afilm about Ankara and be appointed presidential photographer.

In 1925, Ferit Ibrahim Bey closed down his studio in Beyoglu and movedto Ankara. He took many photographs of Mustafa Kemal and his colleagues,before he became homesick for Istanbul and returned to open yet anotherstudio on Istiklal Caddesi in Beyoglu.

 On the wall he hung large signed photographs of Mustafa Kemal.

 In his old age, he moved his studio to Kadikoy, where he diedin 1953. Ferit Bey's son, Naim Goren, followed in his father's footstepsto become one of the prime photographers in Ankara. As a young man he hadaccompanied his father to Ankara where he opened a shop in downtown Ulusselling photography equipment and processing films. Before long he wasthe best known photographer in the city.

When it came obligatory for every adult citizen to take surnames, fatherand son chose different names, Ozgunar and Goren respectively.

Naim Bey loved the country and built a house in Kucukesat, a districtlong since swallowed up by the city sprawl. In those days, this was anarea of scattered country houses surrounded by orchards and gardens. Hishouse was at the last stop on the municipal bus route, and buses ran onlytwo or three times a day. This stop was named after the famous photographerby Ankara Municipality.

 Late in life, Naim Goren moved back to Istanbul, where he diedon 17 August 1977.

The hundreds of negatives of photographs which Ferit Ibrahim Bey tookin the early years of this century, particularly those depicting the FirstWorld War and the years of the occupation, have never been found. Thissad loss is still felt by historians and those interested in the historyof Turkish photography.

SKYLIFE
Tue, 24 Sep 96