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.

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
Died1903
Known forPhotography
Ohannes Kurkdjian on the edge of the Sand Sea (Lautan Pasir) in the Tengger Mountains – circa 1910. Stereophotograph.

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

Life and work

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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]

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References

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  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.
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