The Arab Image Foundation (AIF) has selected a collection for digitization that represents a large range of photography methods-- from commercial studio use by professionals to personal use (e.g. family shots) by non-professionals. The materials represent a visual and social history of Lebanon and the Middle East that showcases the diversity and complexity of cultural practices captured via photography. Through the AIF's digitized work, users can access not just the practice of photography in Lebanon, but also a wider range of concepts representations of self-image, intimacy, domesticity, and the development of modernity in Lebanon. This collection contextualizes these ideas through visualizations of tension between private and public space within and outside of Lebanon, including countries such as Syria, Egypt, Iran, and Iraq. Lebanon’s current socioeconomic crisis has caused a rift in social unrest and has put cultural heritage, such as this collection, at risk of damage or loss of access. The AIF’s work to preserve these photographic materials is absolutely essential and will allow users to explore spaces throughout Lebanon and in a variety of other countries.
On Wednesday, October 30, 1895, Armenians were massacred in Erzurum and the surrounding Armenian villages. American journalist William Sachtleben happened to be in Erzurum at that time, investigating the disappearance of American cyclist Frank Lenz. During the massacre Sachtleben was in the American mission building, where over 200 Armenians fled for protection. Sachtleben witnessed the aftermath of the massacre; he took photographs of the victims in the Armenian Cemetery and wrote three lengthy and detailed letters about the massacre that were published, unsigned and attributed to an Occasional Correspondent, in the London Times on November 16, 27 and December 9. In the Nov. 16 letter he wrote: "Saturday, Nov. 2...I went with one of the cavasses of the English Legation, a soldier, my interpreter, and a photographer (Armenian) to the Armenian Gregorian Cemetery. The municipality had sent down a number of bodies, friends had brought more, and a horrible sight met my eyes. Along the wall on the north in a row 20ft. wide and 150ft. long, lay 321 dead bodies of the massacred Armenians..." In the Times Nov. 27 letter, Sachtleben wrote: "The number of houses of Armenians in Erzerum is about 2,000...Of these 2,000 houses, about 1,500 to 1,800 are completely emptied of their contents. Many families, formerly well-to-do, are now completely in poverty, having lost all their goods in the shops and all their household articles as well..."
