Black and white

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 (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 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). 

Studio photograph taken by Ahmet Şevki, in Nicosia. A young boy is sitting on a chair of Viennese type. He is wearing a three-piece suit of European style, made of English striped cashmere. A white gömlek (shirt) and a tie are to be seen under the waistcoat. He wears European shoes tied with laces, and çorap (stockings). On his head he wears an Ottoman fes (fez, turk. Osmanlı fesi). The photograph dates to about 1918. 

Studio photograph taken by Ahmet Şevki in Nicosia, about 1918. A young boy is standing with his left arm resting on a high corner table. He is wearing a two-piece suit made of English cashmere, a white gömlek (shirt) and a bow-tie. Attached on the collar of his jack­et there is a fresh carnation, as was fashionable in those days. European shoes and a soft fes (fez) made of keçe (felt), complete the attire.

Photograph of a young man called Adem, son of Hacı Tahir. He was born in 1900 and died in 1934. The photograph was taken in 1918, in the studio of Ahmet Şevki, with paintings and flower decoration in the background. He wears an Ottoman fes (fez, turk. Osmanlı durulla fes) with a headscarf ornamented with lace forming yellow tulip motifs. His light-coloured gömlek (shirt) is of the g(k)avuşturma type and is combined with white dizlik (knee-breeches) and white cotton çorap (stockings) provided with white cotton loom-woven garters with tassels. In sharp contrast to this light-coloured attire stands the polychrome imported silk guşak (sash, turk. kuşak). The silk polychrome guşak (sash, turk. kuşak) around his waist was imported from Tripoli (tarab­lus, turk. trablus) around the waist. The kundura (shoes, turk. kuntura) are black, decorated with a fiyonklu potin (bow-tie buckle) on the front; there is also a small buckle in the centre of the bow. This is a typical traditional attire.