Black and white

Photograph of a young man, Mehmet Kahkül. It was taken in the studio of Ah­met Şevki around 1918. He is standing with his left hand resting on a couple of books placed on a high corner ta­ble. On the floor in front of the table is a flowerpot. In his right-hand Mehmet holds a gırbaç (whip, turk. kırbaç). Part of his short hair falls forward, in a style called kahgül. He also has a moustache. The headscarf that covers the head is orna­mented with tulip pattern lace (lale oyası). He wears a gömlek (shirt) of pistachio pattern (fıstıklı), with pleats in front and a collar, combined with şalvar, (baggy trousers) made of broadcloth (çufa, turk. çuha) and a silk colourful guşak (sash, turk. kuşak) from Tripoli (tarab­lus turk. trablus) around the waist. The şalvar (baggy trousers) seem to have applied braided decoration along the sides. Over the gömlek (shirt) he wears a black linen long sakko (jacket) with a tulip on the yaka (collar). Below the flower appears the zincir (chain) of his watch, attached to a ring. His legs are covered with long hand-knitted acurlu çorap (woolly stockings), which meet the end of the baggy trousers just below the knees.His flat slip-on shoes are of the type known as kun­dura (turk. kuntura), decorated with a bow (papyonlu kuntura).

Photograph of Hasan Mehmet Pol, taken in Ahmet Şevki’s studio in Nicosia. Ah­met Şevki was a well-known photographer who closed his shop in 1923 and emigrated to Turkey. Thus the photograph must have been taken some time before 1923. Painted decoration forms the background. The young man appears in a typical posture, standing near a corner table with his left hand resting on it. There is a flowerpot on the table and a vase with flowers on a lower shelf. Hasan has short hair and a thick moustache. He wears the Ottoman fes (fez, turk. Osmanlı durulla fes) with a white yemeni (headscarf) around it, ornamented with needle lace reproducing carnation motifs all around the edges. His gömlek (shirt) is made of a loom-woven coarse cloth, probably made of cotton and silk (idare, gc. itares = fine cotton yarn, silk-cotton fabric with warp of fine cotton yarn; see Papademetriou 1991, 125). The silk polychrome guşak (sash, turk. kuşak) around his waist was imported from Tripoli (tarab­lus turk. trablus). From the waist hangs a watch suspended from a chain. He also wears black dizlik (knee-breeches) and long çorap (stockings) that come up to the knees; the stockings are hand-knitted and decorated with a flowerpot pattern made with dyed cotton thread. The boots come up to the ankles and are provided with elastic on both sides (gonçlu potin).  

Photograph of Nazım Hasan Gambil from the village of Angastina. It was taken in Ahmet Şevki’s studio in Nicosia, not later than 1917. Nazım covered for a younger relative who had committed a murder. He was found guilty in the court and was condemned to death. He was hanged by the British authorities in 1922. It is a stylized studio photograph taken in front of artificial, painted and rolled decoration. The same flower decoration can be recognized in the background of other photographs. The man is stand­ing with his left hand resting on a corner table with a vase full of flowers on it. He looks very serious. He has short hair and a moustache with its ends turning upwards. He wears a gömlek (shirt) with a separate collar and buttons, as well as a striped tie. His two-piece dark-col­oured suit (trousers and jacket) is of western style. In the left breast pocket of the jacket is a white silk handkerchief. His black kundura (shoes, turk. kuntura) are closed with buttons at the sides. This attire has been characterized as an example of the British-Ottoman dress chaos (Ingiliz-Osmanlı kıyafet kargaşası; kıyafet = dress, general appearance; kargaşa, kargaşalık = confusion, disorder).

Photograph of two young men, Gara Hasan and Çolacık Hüseyin, standing side by side. The photo­graph was taken around 1915. Both have short hair and a moustache. Gara (turk kara) Hasan holds a kırbaç (whip) in his right hand – a striking example of Cy­priot ‘bullies’ of that time. He wears a fes (fez) in the form of a üskifi fes; (üsküf is a rounded skull­cap, a knitted bonnet or cap) and is surrounded by a yemeni (heads­carf) decorated with lace imitating oleander flowers (dört yapraklı ağı çiçeği). His white gömlek (shirt) is loom-woven and has a short collar and long sleeves ending in cuffs. Over the shirt he wears a cepken dikme yelek (sleeveless waistcoat) with applied braided decoration (gaytan, turk. kaytan) and around his waist a woollen loom-woven kırmızı guşak (red sash, turk. kırmızı kuşak). His dizlik (knee-breeches) are black and the long handmade white çorap (stockings). The black lastikli potin (ankle boots) have elastic on both sides. He also has a watch with a silver chain, which seems to be hanging from his waist guşak (sash, turk. kuşak). Çolacık Hüseyin wears an Ottoman, flat-topped fes (fez) with a yemeni (headscarf) around its lower part. The scarf is decorated with lace reproducing the jasmine (yasemin) motif. His white loom-woven gömlek (shirt) is combined with şalvar (breeches) made of coloured sky-blue broadcloth (çufa, turk. çuha), and a double folded multi-coloured guşak (sash, turk. kuşak) from Tripoli (tarab­lus, turk. trablusk) around the waist. The çorap (stockings), which reach up to the knee, are handmade and colourful, decorated with the vertically arranged ‘snake bone’ pattern (ilan, turk. yılan (snake) kemiği). The black ankle boots are provided with elastic (las­tik) on both sides, to facilitate wearing. This traditional attire is accompanied by a rather ‘modern’ black sakko (jacket) of western style. It is worth noting that the şalvar (baggy breeches) of Hüsey in, which seem to have applied decoration alongside the legs, seem to match with the richly decorated waistcoat worn by Yusuf. This combination would make a typical old traditional festive Turkish Cypriot costume, known from preserved examples and photographs. 

Photograph taken between 1910 and 1915. It shows two young boys (10-12 years old), Yusuf Gondo and Mehmet Zorba, standing side by side and holding their right hands. They are similarly dressed. Yusuf Gondo (left), who was born in 1900 in Kanli and died in 1941, wears the Ottoman fes (fez, turk. Osmanlı durulla fes) and around it a yemeni (headscarf) decorated with a handmade lace with the tulip pattern; his costume comprises a gömlek (shirt) with designs, white beyaz dizlik (bez knee-breeches) and a kırmızı guşak (red sash, turk. kırmızı kuşak) around his waist. The white cotton çorap (stockings) are hand-knitted and cover the legs up to the knees. They are held in place with knitted or plaited dark-coloured handmade cotton örme (straps). The kundura (shoes, turk. kuntura) are plain and black. Mehmet Zorba (right) also wears the Ottoman fes (fez, turk. Osmanlı durulla fes), which has a püskül (tassel); its lower part is surrounded by a çevre (kerchief) ornamented with lace reproducing a leaf pattern (yaprak oya). His linen (bez) gömlek (shirt) is made of a striped cloth (alaca), the dizlik (knee-breeches) are of white cotton and covered at the waist by a kırmızı guşak (red sash, turk. kırmızı kuşak). His cotton çorap (stockings) are hand-knitted and held in place below the knee with handmade straps. The kundura (shoes, turk. kuntura) are black and decorated with a toka (buckle) on the front.

Photograph taken between 1910 and 1915. It shows two young boys (10-12 years old), Yusuf Gondo and Mehmet Zorba, standing side by side and holding their right hands. They are similarly dressed. Yusuf Gondo (left), who was born in 1900 in Kanli and died in 1941, wears the Ottoman fes (fez, turk. Osmanlı durulla fes) and around it a yemeni (headscarf) decorated with a handmade lace with the tulip pattern; his costume comprises a gömlek (shirt) with designs, white beyaz dizlik (bez knee-breeches) and a kırmızı guşak (red sash, turk. kırmızı kuşak) around his waist. The white cotton çorap (stockings) are hand-knitted and cover the legs up to the knees. They are held in place with knitted or plaited dark-coloured handmade cotton örme (straps). The kundura (shoes, turk. kuntura) are plain and black. Mehmet Zorba (right) also wears the Ottoman fes (fez, turk. Osmanlı durulla fes), which has a püskül (tassel); its lower part is surrounded by a çevre (kerchief) ornamented with lace reproducing a leaf pattern (yaprak oya). His linen (bez) gömlek (shirt) is made of a striped cloth (alaca), the dizlik (knee-breeches) are of white cotton and covered at the waist by a kırmızı guşak (red sash, turk. kırmızı kuşak). His cotton çorap (stockings) are hand-knitted and held in place below the knee with handmade straps. The kundura (shoes, turk. kuntura) are black and decorated with a toka (buckle) on the front.

The photograph shows a young man sitting on a village chair with his right leg rest­ing on the left. A blanket hangs in the background. The young man is Ayalı Mehmet Bey; he was born in 1895 and died in 1913. He has short hair and a short moustache. His head is covered with an Ottoman fes (fez, turk. Osmanlı durulla fes) surrounded by a headscarf, which is decorated with lace in narcissus (turk. nergis) pattern. He wears a light-coloured gömlek (shirt)  made of ordinary fabric; it has long sleeves ending in cuffs, a short collar and an opening at the centre front closed with buttons. Over the gömlek (shirt) he wears a western-style jacket. Loom-woven şalvar (pleated baggy trousers) come down to the knees; the long white woolen, square-patterned çorap (stockings) come over the trousers and stop below the knees. Around the waist there is a wide guşak (sash, turk. kuşak). He wears slip-on kundura (shoes, turk. kuntura) with medium high heels; on the front, they are decorated with a dark broad band.