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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 a wealthy man, Ömer Hacıali. He was born on 15th May 1888 and died in 1980. The photograph was taken not later than 1917 in Ahmet Şevki’s studio. The man stands resting his left hand on a high corner table on which is a vase with roses of different colours. Ömer has short hair and a moustache. He wears a rigid Ottoman fes (fez, turk. Osmanlı durulla fes) with a yemeni (headscarf) around its lower part, decorated with lace; the pattern consists of narcissus (nergiz) flowers. His attire is traditional, composed of a silk gömlek (shirt), şalvar (heavily pleated breeches) made of blue broadcloth (çufa/ turk. çuha) and a silk multi-coloured guşak (sash, turk. kuşak) around the waist. His köstekli saat (watch) is hidden in the waist guşak (sash, kuşak) but its chain hangs down in front on the right side. The çorap (stockings), which reach up to the knees, are hand-knitted and bear the coffee cup (fincan) pattern on a white background. The front part of the black ankle boots (a shoe-like galosh with instep and leg of a differ­ent material) is covered with a light-coloured part. These boots are described as making a creaking noise (kapalı gıcırdaklı potin). In his right hand he holds a ipek mendil (silk handkerchief). The photograph was hand-coloured at a later stage; the gömlek (shirt) was painted light blue. 

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. 

Studio photograph taken in 1914. It depicts a young couple, Ekrem Ovgorozlu, an inspector in the British administration, and his wife Pembe Ovgorozlu. The man is sitting on a chair of Viennese type, with his legs crossed and hands resting on his knee one over the other. His left arm is placed partly around the back of the chair, which appears at his elbow. He has short hair and a short moustache. He is dressed in western style; his cos­tume is composed of a white gömlek (shirt) with collar, around which is tied a black tie. Over the shirt he wears a white cashmere waistcoat and a jacket of the same material. His trousers are of brown striped cloth and end with a wide double turned hem. He also wears knitted çorap (stockings) and front lace ankle boots (the side seam is the more formal style, continuous from sole to sole – ‘closed tab’). The lady is standing next to her husband with her hands on a high corner table in front of her. She wears a ‘modern’ long white dress with sleeves down to the elbows. The sleeves have vertical openings with two horizontal strips. There is a round opening around the neck and a belt at the waist. Thin black çorap (stockings) are combined with white kundura (shoes, turk. kuntura) with a narrow strap at the front. Her head above the eyebrows is covered with the traditional çarşaf which is made of white silk and hangs down the back. Her appearance is complemented with jewellery. The earrings consist of two round elements, one on the ear and the other hanging. Around her neck she wears a traditional necklace made of gold Ottoman coins (turk. Mahmudiye) tied onto a black ribbon, and on her left wrist twisted bracelets. The white tablecloth has a handmade band all around the edges; the repeated pat­tern consists of the white flowers of the tree Sambucus nigra. On the table stands a vase of flowers.  

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.