Black and white

Street photograph showing two young men with short hair and moustaches, standing side by side. As in No. 043, the one on the right of the photograph is dressed in European style, wearing a jacket of dark fabric over a white shirt, and light-coloured trousers. Dark leather laced shoes complete his appearance. The man on the left wears a light-coloured European-style jacket and shirt, over black knee-breeches (kara dizlik), a dark-coloured sash (kuşak) around his waist, knitted white stockings with linear patterns and laced ankle boots (gonçlu potin). The stockings come up to the knees, where they are tied with narrow bands.

Both men have the same badge on their chest, inscribed with an A and the number 4000 underneath.

Street photograph of Rifat Mehmet Ali (1915-1990), taken about 1940. He wears a white shirt, a dark-coloured jacket and black breeches (kara dizlik). The jacket has a breast pocket, in which there is a watch with its chain hanging down and attached to one of the jacket´s buttonholes. A Tripoli sash (tarabulus kuşak/guşak) appears around his waist. His hand-knitted patterned stockings are tied with a string just below the knees, and his shoes are plain and flat (kuntura). The attire is completed with a high Ottoman fez (Osmanlı fesi) with a laced headscarf (yemeni) around it.

Street photograph taken by an unknown photographer in 1940. It shows Kemal Mustafa Damdelen (born in 1912, died in 1964) and Ahmet, from Kiados (Çatoz), in Mesaoria. Kemal wears a cotton shirt woven on the loom and an English cashmere jacket, silk sash (tarabulus kuşak), blue broadcloth breeches (çuha şalvar) with the traditional applied decoration on both sides, hand-knitted stockings (Temroz çorabı), with patterns, black elastic-sided ankle boots with white leg upper parts (gonç, namely the part of the boot that comes up to the ankle). Ahmet wears black baggy trousers similar to vráka (şalvar), a red woollen loom-woven sash around the waist, and black knee boots (kuntura çizmesi) tied under the knees with strings (çizme bağı) made of goat hair.

Photograph of Emine (born in 1917 in Kanli) and Tahsin Mustafa Damdelen (1912-1964). It was taken in the Public Garden, Nicosia, between the years 1938 and 1940.

Emine stands on the right side of her husband. She wears the typical Muslim women’s outdoor overgarment, in its modern version of the late 1930s; the headdress is low on the front and leaves exposed only the part of the hair which covers the ears. The veil falls on either side and encloses the upper part of the body down to the waist; on the chest it is closed with a pearl pin; the skirt is wide and reaches just below the knees; this garment is called kırmalı çarşaf (pleated). Under the çarşaf she wears a white shirt with broad cuffs which can be seen below the edges of the veil. Her stockings are also white, while the footwear, which she acquired as dowry from her parents, consists of two-tone slip-on court shoes with peaked toecaps, and high heels. Around her neck is a necklace with a series of beads. In her right hand she holds a white bag with a strap, the top fashion of that time.

The man’s curly hair has a parting on the left and falls to the right. He wears a western-style jacket made of English brown fabric; the coat is closed with two buttons and has a double collar and three pockets; in the left breast pocket is a silk handkerchief decorated with lace. Under the jacket he wears a white silk shirt bought in 1938; the wide collar of the shirt falls over the jacket’s collar. This European-looking costume on the upper part, is combined with traditional dress items on the lower body: loom-woven knee-breeches (dizlik) made of cotton cloth dyed black by a dyer (boyacı), hand-knitted stockings (Temroz çorabı, of the style used in Templos, in Keryneia) with white patterns on black background (a flowerpot with a tripartite flower motif with juxtaposed birds on top), and elastic-sided ankle boots (lastikli konçlu potin) with lighter upper parts. He holds a folding stick in his left hand.

Source: Emine Damdelen.

Village: Kioneli (Gönyeli), Nicosia District.

Photograph of Mustafa Keleş (1915-1987). It was taken in 1938 by an anonymous street photographer, with an artificial background unrolled behind the person. Mustafa has a moustache and his hair is so combed as to fall on his right side, a hairstyle known as kahkül or pipi. He wears a white poplin shirt with the collar falling over the collar of his jacket, which is of western style, made of English fabric, with three buttons and three pockets. The lower part of his body is covered with baggy trousers, woven on the loom with white cotton thread; they reach down to the knees, where they meet the black leather knee boots; the boots are of ‘Frankish’ style and show decorative horizontal relief bands.

Source: Emine Keleş.

Village: Kalyvakia (Kalavaç), Mesaoria, Nicosia District.

Studio photograph of Şifa Hüseyin Esengin (1908-1989). The photograph was taken in 1938, when she was 30 years old. Seven years earlier, in 1931, Şifa had become a midwife. In the studio she is standing near a column with a podium, on which she rests her right hand. The background shows a romantic landscape. Her wavy hair is just long enough to cover her ears. She wears a full-length sleeved dress made of cotton cloth (idare) with a narrow belt of the same fabric around the waist. The rather narrow, straight skirt shows vertical stitched lines in front (sewn with a machine). Two obliquely sewn lines also appear on either side on the breasts. A separate, detachable wide collar made of a different white fabric, covers the shoulders and all around the chest and back. It is tied in front with cords. This modern style is complemented with thin, transparent stockings and white, perforated, high-heeled sandal bar shoes with a buckle fastening.

Photograph donated by Şifa’s son, Yusuf Esengin.

Village: Kioneli (Gönyeli), Nicosia District.

Photograph of a young girl with long hair, dressed in a modern light-coloured dress with a white collar. A cord is tied in front and falls on the chest ending with tassels. The dress has long sleeves and probably a belt of the same fabric at the waist. Her hair is held back by a metallic band, both functional and decorative. Earrings hang from her pierced ears.

Street photograph showing three standing men, all with short hair and moustaches. The one on the right side is a police corporal (onbaşı), dressed in British uniform with Ottoman fez (Osmanlı fes). The man in the middle combines a European-style jacket with ;alvar, a colourful sash (tarabulus kuşak) around the waist, and a fez with a head-kerchief (yemeni) around it, decorated with lace. He also wears stockings and leather elastic-sided ankle boots (gonçlu potin). On the lapel of his jacket he has attached a light coloured rose. The third man, on the left, is wearing a European-style three-piece suit, a pastel coloured shirt and a fez. A fresh flower, probably a carnation, decorates the lapel of his jacket, which has a handkerchief in the breast pocket. His boots (gonçlu potin) are also elastic-sided. This photograph must date before the mid-1930s, when policemen stopped wearing the Ottoman fez.

Photograph of Mehmet Çoban Hüseyin (1903-1985); it was taken by an anonymous street photographer, outdoors with a painted background, which shows slender columns and looped-back curtains. The man is standing with his right hand resting on a chair; he looks young, with a well-trimmed moustache and short hair almost completely covered by his high Ottoman fez.

He wears a white shirt with straight collar and over it a knitted pullover (kazak), with a corn pattern (darı), a light-coloured jacket and riding breeches with their lower part tucked into black leather knee boots. His attire is modern. It may be assumed that Mehmet must have had a horse, probably to go around and inspect his workmen.

Source: Hatice Tin, Ali Mehter.

Village: Epicho (Abohor), Nicosia District.

Studio photograph of Ali Mulla Hüseyin (1915-1995), taken in 1932. The painted background, carpet and corner table are the same as in No. 032. The young man stands on a colourful carpet with his right hand resting on a corner table, which has a vase with a variety of flowers placed on its lower shelf. He has a short moustache and a peculiar hair style with a parting on the left and the wavy hair falling on the right side (TCy kahkül, Turk. kakül = lock of hair, side lock). He wears a white shirt with a wide open, sailor-like collar which falls over the collar of the jacket; the latter is of western style with two buttons and two superimposed pockets clearly visible on the right side: it is described as divişli sakgo. The lapel of the coat is decorated with a carnation. The rest of the attire is traditional: it comprises black knee-breeches, a pilgrim’s striped scarf, presumably from the Holy Land, used as a waistband (hacı şalı kuşağı), and long hand-knitted stockings of thick thread in light rose colour; the pattern consists of concentric lozenges arranged in vertical series. The leather boots are fashionable, of two different colours, black with the upper part white. They are elastic-sided ankle boots (lastikli gonçlu potin).

Donated by Veli Avcı.

Village: Kioneli (Gönyeli), Nicosia District.