Photograph

Photograph of Nuri Ahmet (Erbaş), born in 1908. The photograph was taken in the early 1920s, when he started high school (rüşti, turk. rüşdiye). It is a studio photograph with a painted background showing a balcony with a column and looped-back tasseled cur­tains. The young man is standing with his right hand resting on a corner table. On top of the table is a decorated flowerpot with roses. He wears a plain Ottoman fes (fez), a gömlek (shirt) with collar and a tie, as well as a white woollen knitted waistcoat. The upper part of the attire is completed with a ceket (jacket) made of raw güğül (silk, turk. güvül) and bearing a school pin on the collar. His trousers are made of şal (loom-woven homespun woollen cloth). Around his waist he bears a kolan palaska (broad cartridge belt bandolier) with buckle. The chain of the watch is also visible. He wears front lace gonçlu potin (ankle boots).

Photograph of Kunturacı Mus­tafa Yeşiltaş with his family. It is a studio photograph, as shown by the painted background with drawn-back curtains, and was taken in 1922. Mustafa and his wife Emine are sitting with their children on their knees, the girl in her mother’s lap and the young boy on his father’s left knee. In the centre of the photo­graph, between the pair, is standing Nuri, Emine’s brother. Mustafa, the older man, wears an Ottoman fes (fez), a loom-woven cotton gömlek (shirt), şalvar, (baggy trousers) made of broadcloth (çufa turk. çuha) and deco­rated with spirals and other curvi­linear motifs of twisted black braids sewn onto it, a polychrome silk guşak (sash, turk. kuşak) The silk polychrome sash around his waist was imported from Tripoli (tarab­lus turk. trablus) around the waist, white çorap (stockings) tied below the knee, and black elastic gus­set ‘Cambridge’ shoes. As an accessory he has a köstekli saat (watch with chain). Emine Hanım wears the typical for Muslim women long black dress with çarşaf (veil this is a two- or three-piece); the veil covers the head and part of the forehead, and the front part of the çarşaf has buttons. Her front lace shoes or boots are also black. The young girl, her daughter Pembe, wears a yemeni (headscarf) ornamented with handmade lace with the motif of narcissus (nergiz) all around the edges; also a dress made of white cotton flannel cloth (bazen kumaş), handmade çorap (stockings) with tassels and bow-ties (püsküllü çorap fiyonklu) and white shoes, probably with a strap over instep, or boots. The young boy, Salih Yeşiltaş, wears a dress made of loom-woven striped cloth (alaca), hand-knitted lastikli çorap (elastic stockings) and button bar shoes. Nuri Erbaş wears an Ottoman fes (fez), a gömlek (shirt) made of loom-woven coarse cloth, probably made of cotton and silk (idare, in Gr.C.itares = fine cotton yarn, silk-cotton fabric with warp of fine cotton yarn; see Papademetriou 1991, 125), striped trousers of three quarters length, a white jacket and gonçlu potin (ankle boots).  

Photograph of Mustafa Efendi Arif Salih, Muhtar of the village of Mora. It was tak­en in the Foto Necdet Studio about 1923. Mustafa is sitting on a chair with his right leg crossed over the left and holds a riding kırbaç (whip) with both hands. He has short hair and a thick moustache with upturned ends. He wears an Ottoman fes (fez, turk. Osmanlı durulla fes) with a tassel. Over the white gömlek (shirt), of which only the collar around the neck is visible, is a libade (short quilted jacket) with decorative patterns (libade in Turkish also means a broadcloth coat worn in rainy weather). From his neck down to the waist hangs a köstek saat (watch chain). Around his waist is a silk guşak (sash, turk. Kuşak) imported from Tripoli (tarab­lus turk. trablus) – denoting that he is a wealthy person. His dizlik (knee-breeches) are black (kara) and the legs are covered with handmade striped çorap (stockings). The attire is complemented with yarım lastikli gonçlu (turk. Konçlu) potin (leather elastic-sided ankle boots with medium height heel). Mustafa was a very powerful person and this is reflected in the photograph.

Photograph of Mustafa Efendi Arif Salih, Muhtar of the village of Mora. It was tak­en in the Foto Necdet Studio about 1923. Mustafa is sitting on a chair with his right leg crossed over the left and holds a riding kırbaç (whip) with both hands. He has short hair and a thick moustache with upturned ends. He wears an Ottoman fes (fez, turk. Osmanlı durulla fes) with a tassel. Over the white gömlek (shirt), of which only the collar around the neck is visible, is a libade (short quilted jacket) with decorative patterns (libade in Turkish also means a broadcloth coat worn in rainy weather). From his neck down to the waist hangs a köstek saat (watch chain). Around his waist is a silk guşak (sash, turk. Kuşak) imported from Tripoli (tarab­lus turk. trablus) – denoting that he is a wealthy person. His dizlik (knee-breeches) are black (kara) and the legs are covered with handmade striped çorap (stockings). The attire is complemented with yarım lastikli gonçlu (turk. Konçlu) potin (leather elastic-sided ankle boots with medium height heel). Mustafa was a very powerful person and this is reflected in the photograph.

Photograph of Osman Karahasan, born in 1902 and still living in 1994. It was taken in the studio of an anony­mous Greek photographer, most probably in Famagusta, in the year 1921. The photograph was sent to the fiancée of Osman as a souvenir. The young man stands in front of an artificial, painted background which depicts a landscape with palm trees. In his right hand he holds a folding kırma baston (walking stick), while the elbow is resting on a corner table, the front side of which bears an elaborate relief decoration showing a mask of a lion’s head with open mouth. On the table is a flow­erpot decorated with pie-crust garlands and plastic animals, a rare example of a type of pottery which was made exclusively in Varoshia. Osman has short hair and moustache, and wears a plain Ottoman fes (fez, turk. Osmanlı durulla fes). His loom-woven gömlek (shirt) is made of silk (sadakor) which forms vertical wrinkles in the weaving (due to partly looser weft); around the neck, under the collar, he wears a kırmızı mendil (red kerchief). The dark-coloured jacket is of western style and has a silver pin on the collar; a silk handkerchief shows in the left breast pocket. The şalvar (pleated breeches) are made of broadcloth and close just below the knees, where they meet the long çorap (stockings). Along the sides the şalvar (breeches) are decorated with applied black braids which form curvilinear patterns on a light, most probably light blue background. Origi­nally such şalvar (pleated breeches) were matched with a similarly decorated waistcoat, also made of blue broadcloth. The çorap (stockings) are white and decorated with lozenge (lokumlu) patterns. The kundura (shoes, turk. kuntura) are also white (beyaz) and provided with high heels. Around his waist is a loom-woven guşak (sash, turk. kuşak) with a silk kese (purse) hidden in it. 

Photograph of Osman Karahasan, born in 1902 (the same person as in No. 17). He was a person of high status. The photograph was taken in 1921 in the arched portico of his house with the front door in the background. The young man sits on horseback and holds the reins of his black mare, the mane of which is combed. Next to the horse stands its foal. Osman wears a rigid Ottoman fes (fez, turk. Osmanlı durulla fes) wrapped with an yemeni (headscarf) decorated with almond-shaped lace motifs. His sakko (jacket), of indigo blue colour (çividi), is of the type that can be double-crossed (gavuşturma sakko) on the chest. He also wears black dizlik (knee-breeches), cotton çorap (stockings) and white kundura (shoes, turk. kuntura). Evidently, his attire com­bines western features, such as the jacket and the shoes, with traditional dress items (the şalvar (breeches) and the headdress). 

Photograph of two boys, from left to right, Kemal Damdelen and Ahmet Behlül (Arap Ahmet), taken about 1920. Street photograph by an unknown photographer. The boys are similarly dressed in white gömlek (shirt) and dizlik (knee-breeches), with tarabulus guşak (sash, turk. trablus kuşak) around the waist; Kemal seems to wear a dark guşak (sash, turk. kuşak) over the tarabulus guşak (The silk polychrome guşak (sash) around his waist was imported from Tripoli (tarab­lus guşak turk. trablus kuşak), also knitted çorap (stockings) with ‘snake bone’ (yılan kemiği) patterns. The smaller boy, Ahmet, wears plain stockings of light colour. Both have their stockings tied under the knees with strings, probably ending in pompons. Their kuntura (shoes) are flat; those of Kemal are black and decorated with a flower buckle. On the head Kemal wears a high fes (fez) and Ahmet a lower fes (fez), both decorated with a twisted yemeni (headscarf) with handmade lace. This was the usual Turkish Cypriot dress of the time.

• Photograph of Ömer Hasan (1866-c.1946). It was taken outdoors, by an anony­mous street photographer, but the man stands in front of an artificial background with a tree crudely painted on it. He wears a red fes (fez) with a white twisted çevre (kerchief) tied around its lower part. His hair is very short and almost completely covered by the fes (fez), his moustache thick with upturned ends. Over a white fanella (shirt), he wears a front-buttoned jacket (hırka = woollen, or wadded and quilted jacket), a tarablus guşak (Tripoli sash, turk. trablus kuşak) with tassels at the edges, kara dizlik (black knee-breeches), knitted cotton çorap (stockings) with horizontal stripes, all white, and black tab front kundura (shoes, turk. kuntura). The stockings are tied under the knees with black strips.

Photograph of Veleddin Hüseyin (1887-1963). The photograph was taken by Glaszner around 1920. The young man is standing with his right arm resting on a pil­lar which has a coat-of-arms in relief on the front. On the pillar there is a goblet-shaped painted glass vase containing a bunch of flowers. The background shows the colonnaded balustrade of a balcony, as often seen in neoclassical houses. Veleddin holds a riding kırbaç (whip) with both hands. He has a moustache and short hair covered on top with a skull­cap, around which is wrapped a white headscarf decorated with lace (oyalı yemeni) in the tulip (lale) pattern. Over his white gömlek (shirt) he wears a waistcoat made of light-coloured blue broadcloth and richly decorated with applied silk braids which form thick bands all around the edges and schematized vegetal patterns on either side of the chest. Similar decoration composed of curvilinear patterns ending in heart-shaped leaves and spirals decorate either side of the pleated çuha şalvar; these baggy breeches are also made of broadcloth and match the waistcoat. This attire is a good example of the traditional fes­tive Turkish Cypriot townsman’s costume. He also wears a Tripoli (tarab­lus, turk. trablus) guşak (sash, turk. kuşak) around the waist, hand-knitted çorap (stockings) with square patterns (lokumlu, in the shape of lokum = Turkish delight) and black yarım kundura (low-heeled shoes, turk. yarim kuntura = half shoes) decorated with a bow. A long double watch chain seems to be hanging from the neck, under the collar of the gömlek (shirt); it falls down below the waist and turns upwards to dis­appear in the guşak (sash, turk. kuşak), where the watch (köstekli saat) must have been kept. 

Photograph of three men, taken in the Public Garden in Nicosia, as shown by the vegetation in the background. The young man in the middle is standing on a fennel stool with his hands resting on the shoulders of the men on either side, to show his higher status. He has short hair and a trimmed moustache. He wears an Ottoman fes (fez, turk. Osmanlı durulla fes), a white gömlek (shirt) with a kerchief tied around the neck under the collar to form a kind of tie, and a western-style three-piece suit: a buttoned waistcoat with an out-turned collar, a jacket with a white handkerchief in the left breast pocket, and trousers. A cord (of gold or silver thread – sırmalı) extends horizontally over the waistcoat across the waist but it is only partly visible under the jacket. The leather kundura (shoes, turk. kuntura) are black. On the little finger of his left hand he wears a ring. The man on the left side of the photograph is Mehmet Mıstık, born in 1896. He bears a moustache and his hair is mostly covered by a fes (fez). Only the collar of his white, black-spotted fanella (shirt) is visible, as the rest is covered by a knitted cardigan closed to the neck with buttons. Over this he wears a striped sakko (jacket) of western style with a white silk handkerchief in the pocket. The outfit is completed with tra­ditional black dizlik (baggy knee-breeches) and a colourful guşak (sash, turk. kuşak) around his waist; the sash must have been brought from Mecca, as it is referred to as hacı şalı guşak. Around his neck hangs a long köstek saat (watch chain). The chain continues downwards below the waist and then turns upwards with its end disappearing into the şalvar (sash). The çorap (stockings) reach up to the knees, where they meet the edges of the şalvar (breeches). They are hand-knitted with diamond-shaped patterns (paklava turk. baklava) in vertical rows. The costume is complemented with black kundura (shoes, turk. kuntura) decorated with buckles. The third man – on the right side of the photograph – is Mustafa Mıstık, a butcher who was born in 1892 and died in 1951. He has a thick moustache and short hair covered with a skullcap surrounded with a çember (headscarf) which has lace ornaments around the edges (oyalı çember). He wears a white gömlek (shirt) woven in the loom; it has a collar and wide sleeves ending in broad cuffs. The front part on the chest, which would be visible even under the waistcoat, is differentiated from the rest to become more decorative; thus, the stripes formed on the loom are vertical in the middle of the front part, but sewn diagonally on either side to create a contrast.The front part also seems to be hand-embroidered. This elaborate gömlek (shirt) is combined with black dizlik (knee-breeches) and a colourful şalvar (Breeches) around the waist; the sash is again from the Holy Land (hacı şalı kuşak/guşak); he also has a watch chain (turk. Köstek saat) that of the person on the left side. Worth noting are the richly decorated çorap (stockings), hand-knitted with five needles to form patterns in the shape of car­nation (garanfil).